Modern Healthcare
By Mara Lee
Keeping the enhanced match that was added to CHIP as part of the Affordable Care Act is unlikely to be the sticking point for a bipartisan deal, a senior House Republican aide said.
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Kelly Whitener, associate professor of the practice at Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said states would prefer a five-year reauthorization, even if there is lower federal funding after the first or second fiscal year. States sign contracts with managed care companies for two or three years, she said, so they need more certainty than a two-year extension… “If the Senate Finance hearing goes well, that will be a really good sign for swift action,” she said. That hearing is expected in the first week of September. “What I will be looking for to see if there’s bipartisan engagement on needing to do CHIP, not just from [Chairman Orrin] Hatch and [Ranking Member Ron] Wyden. If a lot of members show up and actually talk about CHIP and wanting to do it, that sends a really clear message to [Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell.”
But, she added, “If they can do something, a short term patch, that’s better than nothing. If they can actually get it done in September that’s the best.”
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