Congress Created a Health-Care Crisis for Kids Right in Time for the Holidays

Congress Created a Health-Care Crisis for Kids Right in Time for the Holidays
Parents have begun to fret and, in some cases, penny-pinch as Congress makes limited progress in re-authorizing CHIP.
Gideon Resnick 11.22.17 5:00 AM ET

Since its inception in 1997, CHIP has had strong bipartisan support and been a measurable success, covering nearly 9 million children nationwide. It helped lower the nation’s percentage of uninsured children from almost 14 percent when it started to about 4.5 percent in 2015. But this year, amid efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Congress allowed the deadline to reauthorize the program to come and go. Almost two whole months have passed since and there is growing concern that no action will come until the end of the year.

Families and state agencies have been forced to scramble amidst the uncertainty. Arizona, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, and North Carolina are expected to run out of CHIP funding next month according to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). Another 27 states are anticipated to have their funds exhausted by March 2018



https://www.thedailybeast.com/families-are-facing-a-child-health-care-crisis-as-holiday-season-nears