Media Coverage

Huffington Post By: Jeffrey Young Congress’ failure to renew a program that provides health care to low-income children by year’s end could cause almost 2 million kids to lose their coverage as soon as next month. That’s according to a report published Wednesday by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Federal funding for the Children’s…

CQ By: Sandhya Raman Children’s advocates and state officials are dismayed that long-term funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program may be delayed until next year, with a short-term fix likely to keep states going until then. Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, hinted at a further delay in a press release earlier…

Washington Post By: Robert Samuels The lingering uncertainty in Congress over the fate of the Children’s Health Insurance Program has left Ashlee and Levi Smith torn between optimism and anxiety. As the parents of two young children who have relied on the government-backed health-care plan, the Smiths are unsure whether they should stretch their finances…

New York Times By: Haeyoun Park If Congress does not renew federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, also known as CHIP, more than 1.9 million children in 23 states could lose health coverage in January, according to a new analysis by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. … Nationally, CHIP insures nearly nine million children in low-income families.…

WILX 10 An insurance program meant to cover low-income kids is nearly out of money. Washington can easily reauthorize new money for the program, and many legislators on both sides of the aisle want to. However, another week wraps up, and once again, Congress has not closed a deal on new funding for the Children’s…

ThinkProgress By: Amanda Michelle Gomez On Monday, Virginia officials said they will begin notifying families who receive coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that the program will end on January 31st if the federal government does not adequately fund it soon. WAMU 88.5 reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin first reported the news. … “The bottom line…

The Press-Enterprise By: Jeff Horseman Sofia Cortez has had her share of bad breaks in the past seven months. The energetic 6-year-old from Riverside broke her elbow while bouncing on a trampoline. Then came a broken pinky finger at day care. The federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, paid for Sofia’s medical care. “Thank…

The Takeaway At the end of September, Congress allowed the deadline for refunding CHIP to expire. Replenishing funds for the program should be a slam dunk in Congress — there is usually bipartisan support for this program that helps kids — but CHIP still doesn’t have a funding plan, and the program is running on…

Fox Business By: Brian Schwartz As House Republicans negotiate the finishing touches on a final comprehensive tax bill with their Senate colleagues, the House Freedom Caucus on Monday became a potential hurdle to avoiding a government shutdown ahead of the looming Dec. 8 deadline, FOX Business has learned. … If Congress cannot come to an…

WLWT5 Gov. Scott Walker moved ahead Monday with his plans to make Wisconsin the first state to drug test able-bodied adults applying for food stamps, a move blocked by the federal government or found to be unconstitutional when other states have tried. … “The state could do far more to expand the workforce by investing…

Tampa Bay Times By: Allison Graves Every day, PolitiFact Florida researches claims by candidates and elected officials to sort fact from fiction for voters. … The rate of uninsured children in Florida dropped from 14.8 percent in 2009 to 6.2 percent in 2016, according to a September 2017 Georgetown Health Policy Institute Center for Children…

FierceHealthcare By: Leslie Small In its short-term appropriations bill, Congress has included a provision aimed at helping states keep their Children’s Health Insurance Programs afloat while lawmakers try to pass a longer-term measure. But that gesture may not go nearly far enough. … The center’s executive director, Joan Alker, also isn’t impressed by the CHIP…

Colorado Public Radio By: John Daley There are 75,000 children enrolled in Colorado’s Children’s Health Plan Plus. Each of the enrolled families has received a letter from the state advising them to consider their options, including talking to their provider about what alternative insurance they accept. … “This is not a good way to run government…

CNN Money By: Tami Luhby More than a million lower-income children are at risk of losing their health insurance next year if Congress doesn’t act soon. Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program ran out at the end of September. Though the program enjoys bipartisan support, it has still gotten caught up in the political…

Crosscut By: Mark Trahant Congress has yet to reenact the Children’s Health Insurance Program and states will soon run out of funds to prop up the program. That will mean that thousands of American Indian and Alaska Native children will lose their health insurance. The result is the Indian Health Service will have to stretch…

Kaiser Health News By: Ashley Lopez, Selena Simmons-Duffin Last week, Colorado became the first state to notify families that children who receive health insurance through the Children’s Health Insurance Program are in danger of losing their coverage. … Joan Alker, who runs the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said most states need to give families…

Des Moines Register By: Tony Leys This week’s departure of Iowa’s largest Medicaid management firm shouldn’t cause poor or disabled Iowans to suddenly lose health-care services, the leader of the main remaining company said. “We’re honoring those services on Day One. Those services will continue,” said Kim Foltz, Iowa chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare. ……

Mother Jones By: Edwin Rios In September, Congress let expire the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a bipartisan-backed program that covers millions of low-income kids whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. First created in 1997 under President Bill Clinton, CHIP provides health insurance for routine checkups, doctors’ appointments, and hospital care for nearly 9…

The Hill By: RACHEL ROUBEIN AND JESSIE HELLMANN The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is working to lift a restriction on how much money states can get to keep their Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) running, as Congress works to reauthorize the program that lapsed Sept. 30. … Advocates are frustrated that Congress…

Washington Post By: Paige Winfield Cunningham Congress is perfectly illustrating a potential pitfall with the GOP’s idea of capping Medicaid spending. Just look at how it’s neglecting another federal program that covers low-income children. Never have lawmakers let funding lapse so long for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a uniquely bipartisan U.S. safety net program that covers about…