ABSTRACT
The remote origins of the CHIP program can be traced to state “crippled children’s” programs and “mothers’ pensions,” the Sheppard-Towner Act of 1921, and the Social Security Acts of 1935 and 1950. These developments were important in focusing attention on “dependent children,” initiating federal grants relating specifically to child health, and developing legislative strategies to begin and then to increase categorical benefits. 1 These origins are not cited to confer legitimacy upon CHIP, but it may improve perspective to be aware that federal grants-in-aid for children’s health have been around for almost a century and that strategic incrementalism applied to various titles of the Social Security Act goes back to 1950. 2
