The future of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is in jeopardy as the House and the Senate prepare bills to reauthorize the funding for the popular program, according to CBS News.
"CHIP has always had bipartisan support since it started 20 years ago. So it's really been a surprise that it's taken this long to get it funded. Congress has never blown past the deadline before, so we're in uncharted territory," said Jesse Cross-Call, Center for Budget Policy and Priorities senior analyst, in the CBS report.
The program, which provides low-cost health insurance to 9 million children in low-income to moderate-income families, expired Sept. 30.
An estimated 11 states will run out of CHIP funding by the end of the year, and 32 states will run out of funding by March 2018, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. The program is funded by a combination of state and federal money, and most states passed budgets for the next fiscal year under the assumption that CHIP would have been reauthorized, CBS News' report said.
Many states also were expected a 23-percentage point increase in CHIP funding that was part of Obamacare, CBS News reported.
Bills to refund CHIP are in committees in the House and Senate. The Senate bill would reauthorize CHIP for five years and include the Obamacare increase for two years, but critics say that the Senate bill does not specify how to pay for the reauthorization.
The House bill would reauthorize CHIP, and also include additional Medicaid funding for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, CBS reported.
Cross-Call told CBS that he believes the funding for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is not enough, which will lead to debate on the bill, and will delay approval for CHIP.
The House committee said Wednesday that it would delay sending its bill to the House floor, in order to provide more time for talks about funding, the Washington Examiner reported.
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