The ProblemPresident Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, which changed the health care delivery system in the United States by making access to affordable health care for all Americans. The PPACA requires Americans to have health insurance coverage, with exceptions for financial hardship, religious objections, and American Indians. Health reform will also expand Medicaid and include the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), also known as (SCHIP), the National Children's Insurance Program. In 2009, the number of children without insurance was 7.5 million (Estes, Chapman, Dodd, Hollister, & Harrington, 2013). Uninsured children varied by factors such as poverty status, age, race, and Hispanic origin. The percentages of uninsured children by race were as follows: 7.0% for white children, 11.5% for black children, 10.0% for Asian children, and 16.8% for Hispanic children. These percentages show that Hispanic children are most likely to be uninsured due to lack of knowledge about certain available programs providing health insurance coverage. The problem is that there are still many children who are left without insurance coverage due to several barriers such as lack of access, lack of education, and lack of affordable health care for all Americans . According to Brach (2003), SCHIP began in 1997 due to the number of children without health insurance resulting from poor health conditions. Low-income families who made too much money to qualify for Medicaid and did not have access to affordable health insurance through their employers were the reason Congress established this insurance program for children. States have been given complete autonomy in designing their own CHIP programs. ...... middle of paper ......te with federal and state policy changes on CHIP. I would push for policy changes that would improve health insurance programs for children. I would also advocate, by being an active member of state nursing organizations, to require reimbursement for all nurse practitioners as primary care providers. Nurse practitioners are more cost-effective and a way to provide more affordable health care. Nurse practitioners have limitations in their scope of practice, but this limits health care to needy and vulnerable populations. Another way I advocate for CHIP is to educate all of my patients about the importance of preventative care. As a nurse, I could provide families with calendars that record vaccination dates to reduce missed appointments. I can also call patients' families to remind them of upcoming appointments..