Tampa Bay Times

By: Kirby Wilson

Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program has expired, but that shouldn’t affect Florida — for now.

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According to Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, the U.S. government covered about 96 percent of the $686.6 million Florida spent in 2017 to cover children in families earning too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford unsubsidized health insurance.

Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families, said she was “cautiously optimistic” that Congress would work out a bipartisan CHIP extension.

“On the actual CHIP policy, it looks like the House and the Senate are in the same place, and that’s good,” Alker said. However, Alker cautioned, “they need a bipartisan deal … on how to pay for it.”

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