Ohio to possibly exhaust federal SCHIP funds in 2008

According to an article in the New York Times, a new study from the Congressional Research Service says "Twenty-one states will run out of money for children’s health insurance in the coming year, and at least nine of those states will exhaust their allotments in March if Congress simply continues spending at current levels." (Source: "Federal Study Offers Dire Outlook on Child Insurance," Oct. 30, 2007.) Ohio is listed in the article's accompanying graphic as one of the states which will "exhaust federal money for children's health insurance in 2008," evidently between next April to September. (Source: Graphic, NY Times, Oct. 30, 2007.)

Because the federal study is not available for public access, the accuracy of this news article can not be determined. However, the information appears to be reasonable. The federal budget for SCHIP is $5 billion for the current fiscal year; however, states expect to spend $7.6 billion in federal matching funds. As a result, most states will run out of their federal allotment of funds for SCHIP if the program's funding merely stays at status quo levels. Add in increases like Ohio's SCHIP going to 300% of poverty in 2008 and this state's program would run through its federal allotment even faster, possibly between next April and September. However, because Ohio runs its SCHIP program through Medicaid, the state's SCHIP children would continue to receive their coverage without interruption even if the state used up its federal allotment.