Education Week
By: Alyson Klein and Christina A. Samuels
The highest-profile of the two programs to expire is the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which Congress failed to extend by the end of September, could put a financial strain on states—and eventually jeopardize coverage for the roughly 9 million children covered by the program.
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Lawmakers typically renew it far ahead of the deadline, said Elisabeth Burak, the senior program director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.
The delay means a lot of unnecessary stress on families and state leaders alike, Burak said. Renewing the program quickly “should be a no brainer.”
Burak pointed out that Minnesota has already sent a letter to its congressional delegation saying that the state would have to take “extraordinary measures” and may have to spend $10 million of its own money to make sure health services are extended. The National Governors Association has also asked Congress to extend CHIP.
Plus, the uncertainty itself is a problem. States need to plan their CHIP expenditures, which is tough to do if they’re not sure the program is sticking around, Burak said. What’s more, if states need to tap some of their own money to make up for a loss in CHIP funding—even a temporary one—K-12 spending could be squeezed.
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