States scramble to overcome Congress’ failure to move on CHIP program

WASHINGTON — By failing to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program before the end of last month, Congress has nudged the state of Minnesota toward a painful solution to the loss of federal funds: Unless it can find $95 million, the state said it will continue to provide full health care for certain lowincome pregnant women in the program, while either reducing the number of children eligible for CHIP or scaling back their benefits.

That is the sort of agonizing choice that all states in the country will face in the coming months unless Congress acts quickly to restore federal funding to a program that is immensely popular with both parties.

With the U.S. Senate distracted by another Hail Mary attempt by Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Congress didn’t get around to reauthorizing CHIP by the Sept. 30 deadline. And that has left states contemplating how to keep the program running when the federal funding runs out.

Committees in both the House and Senate earlier this month began to consider measures that would extend CHIP funding. According to The Hill, bipartisan efforts in both chambers to reach a solution that would resume CHIP funding have faltered, diminishing chances for a quick fix.

CHIP is a joint federalstate program that provides health coverage to low-income, uninsured children who live in families whose income is too high to qualify for Medicaid. It covers nearly 9 million kids and 370,000 pregnant women across the country. It costs about $15 billion a year, with the federal government picking up nearly 90 percent of that tab. Those enrolled in CHIP are entitled to the same medical services as Medicaid recipients.

“The good news for Pennsylvania is that we have a few months here,” said Teresa Miller, acting secretary of the state’s Department of Human Services, “because our funding won’t end until February, and we are confident that CHIP will get reauthorized.”