ABSTRACT
The initial implementation of the statute not only got the program off to a good start; it contributed much to its continuing success and to its popularity with the states. A part of this story was a strong push from the Clinton administration to turn the CHIP initiative into a popular cause and something of a national campaign. Another part was a novel approach taken toward the initial implementation that radically compressed the time required for state plans and the implementing regulation to be developed and approved. These were tasks that could easily have taken three years to complete. They were substantially finished, with publication of the proposed regulation, 24 months after passage of the statute. Moreover, the program has been remarkably successful as a compromise between flexibility and protectiveness and in opening a new chapter in federal-state relations.
