The Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is abbreviated as CHIP, is something that is talked about in the news from time to time. Your child might qualify for the program, or could currently be benefiting from it. The CHIP program receives funding for a certain amount of years, and then depends on Congress to allow that funding to continue.
Facts About CHIP
The Children’s Health Insurance Program was passed in 1997. CHIP provides health insurance for 9 million children. CHIP helps families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but who don’t make enough to be able to afford to buy health insurance coverage. It is a very important program for families who have children with preexisting conditions, chronic health issues, and who require a lot visits to doctors and hospitals.
CHIP can cover things that a family’s health insurance will not cover. That can include pediatric dental care, speech and language therapies, hearing tests, hearing aids, and more. CHIP also covers pregnant women.
How CHIP is Funded
CHIP is a state-federal partnership. States spend money on the CHIP program, and the federal government reimburses the states using a matching rate that is similar to the rate they reimburse states for Medicaid expenditures.
The federal funding for CHIP is structured as an allotment that is given to each state annually. The amount per state is based on the state’s recent CHIP spending. States must spend their allotment within two years. All unspent funds are distributed to other states.
CHIP funding periodically expires. To prevent that from happening, Congress must vote to extend the funding that CHIP receives from the federal government. Historically, Congress has always made sure to pass a vote that extends the CHIP funding.
What Happens if Congress Doesn’t Extend CHIP Funding
The most recent deadline for extending CHIP funding was the end of September of 2017. Congress allowed the funding to lapse. The result is that states will no longer receive reimbursement funding from the federal government for what they spend on the CHIP program.
If Congress chooses to end funding for CHIP, states will begin running out of money for that program. Each state will exhaust their remaining CHIP funding. States will begin notifying families who have children that are covered by CHIP that the funding could soon end. Some states might be able to pull money from other programs and use it to keep CHIP going for a little while longer.
Families who have children covered by CHIP will lose their ability to afford to access their child’s health care needs. Uninsured pregnant women will no longer be able to be covered by CHIP.
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