Ask this about GOP and children
Quoting from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s web site:
“In 1997, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was created with strong bipartisan support. CHIP gives states financial support to expand publicly funded coverage to uninsured children who are not eligible for Medicaid. As a block grant, CHIP provides states with a set amount of funding that must be matched with state dollars. The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) reauthorized CHIP in April 2009 and the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) contained provisions to strengthen the program.
“The ACA extended CHIP funding until Sept. 30, 2015 and requires states to maintain eligibility standards through Sept. 30, 2019. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 extended CHIP funding with no programmatic changes through Sept. 30, 2017. Legislative action will be required to extend federal funding past September 2017.”
More than two months have passed, and Congress has yet to extend federal funding for CHIP. Consider that when I wrote Sen. Lindsey Graham concerning his legislation to replace the ACA he responded: “My legislation repeals the structure and architecture of Obamacare and replaces it with a block grant given annually to states to help individuals pay for health care.”
Please ask yourself, “Should we believe a Republican Congress will fund Senator Graham’s block grant for health care when they’re unwilling to fund CHIP?”
Joe Whetstone
Beaufort
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This story was originally published December 26, 2017 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Ask this about GOP and children."