Healthcare Dive

By: Les Masterson

Congress included the CHIP reauthorization as part of the two-year budget deal to avert a shutdown. This came after months of debate, discussions and fears about whether Congress would reauthorize the program for low-income children and families.

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In a new blog post, Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families, said the rescission plan would call for $2 billion in cuts from the Children Enrollment Contingency Fund. That fund helps states provide CHIP coverage if they run short of money because of higher-than-expected enrollment. This might happen because of a natural disaster or economic downturn. However, only three states have ever needed to tap into the fund, Alker said.

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“Children and states had to wait months for CHIP to be funded, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when Congress moved forward with a long-term CHIP funding extension,” she said. “This proposal undermines the bipartisan CHIP agreement and removes reassurances states need that funding will be available to keep kids covered. The administration is going back on that agreement and cutting CHIP funding in order to score political points with their base.”

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Read more here.