CHIPs Are Falling

It’s been one of the more popular federal programs the past two decades, but Congress failed to renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) before its authorization ran out Sept. 30. Now it’s unclear whether legislation to extend the program will pass before states, such as Florida, run out of money to keep the it afloat.

And children’s health is now a political pawn in Washington, D.C.

Enrollees in the state’s CHIP program - known in Florida as KidCare - are required to pay monthly premiums of $15 or $20. KidCare is reliant on federal funding, which accounts for 96 percent of its overall spending. If Congress doesn’t act soon to renew CHIP funding, Florida’s CHIP program will be forced to make some painful - and unpopular - choices. These could include shutting down the program until funding is restored and sending closure notices to thousands of Utah families as early as mid-January.

This problem is not unique to Florida. States across the country will also be running out of funding and left with the same hard decisions.

According to the federal government’s benefits resource website, CHIP provides health coverage to nearly eight million children and families nationally with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, but can't afford private coverage. Benefits covered through CHIP include routine check-ups, immunizations, doctor visits, prescriptions, dental and vision care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, laboratory and X-ray services, and emergency services - in other words, basic health care options.

CHIP usually has near-unanimous bipartisan support, but has been neglected the last quarter of 2017 because of Congressional Republicans’ preoccupation with passing their current tax plan to redistribute our national wealth to billionaires and to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As a result, we have seen our leaders repeatedly ignore the needs of children. Instead, they have taken actions that put children’s health care at risk.

Adding insult to metaphorical injury, the GOP tax plan would repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cause 13 million fewer Americans to be covered by 2027 because they will opt not to get insurance. Additionally, Americans could expect a 10 percent spike in premiums in most years over the next decade. So not only are Congressional Republicans not helping children who depend on CHIP, they are repealing the individual mandate, and in doing so, saving over $300 billion to help pay for their massive tax cuts.

And yet, CHIP funding is in limbo.

Taking care of our children’s health care is supposed to be about people, not politics. Sadly, I'm not so sure this is the case anymore, even if the CHIP issue is resolved before it’s too late. I hope Congress gets its priorities straightened out and allow citizens across the nation to have the medical certainty they deserve and need.