CHIP program funded for six years

After three days of a government shutdown, federal lawmakers signed a short-term spending bill on January 22, 2018 that reauthorizes and funds the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years. When CHIP expired in September, it put health care services at-risk for more than 9 million low-income children and pregnant women who do not have employer-based insurance but make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.

According to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, ten states — Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Ohio and Washington — plus Washington, D.C., were expected to run out of CHIP money by the end of January.  Historically supported by both parties, numerous governors across the country issued statements in support of continued funding for the program. For now, CHIP remains intact. Other programs, such as the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) remain in limbo.

Advocacy & Communication Solutions (ACS) continues to watch changes to this, and other issues of importance for our clients in 2018.

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