The Sept. 30 deadline to renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has come and gone, leaving funding for the 9 million children it covers in doubt if federal funding isn’t restored within the next few months.
The Washington Post reports states will likely still have CHIP money available through March 2018. If Congress doesn’t quickly renew the program, however, many children could be uninsured for services like routine office visits, immunizations, inpatient care and imaging services.
Healthcare industry groups had earlier thought CHIP’s renewal, which was last passed in 2015 as part of the payment reforms in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, would be tied to efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Instead, those efforts look to have distracted from the CHIP deadline, as Senate Republicans focused on their attempt to corral support for the Graham-Cassidy legislation.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.