Congress extends CHIP funding until March

A bill passed by Congress last week to keep most of the federal government funded for another month also provided a temporary reprieve to a number of health programs in danger of running out of money, most notably the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP  (Source: “Children’s Insurance, Other Health Programs Funded — For Now — In Bill,” Kaiser Health News, Dec. 22, 2017).

Funding for CHIP technically expired Oct. 1. States have been operating their programs with leftover funds provided by the Department of Health and Human Services since then. But nearly half of the states were projected to run out of money entirely by the end of January, putting health coverage for nearly 2 million children at risk by that point.

The funding provided by Congress for CHIP — $2.85 billion — is for six months, but it is back-dated to Oct. 1, so it will run out at the end of March 2018. The program covers 9 million children across the country.

The funding bill also provided a temporary reprieve for other health programs that were running out of money, most notably the nation’s community health centers, which provide basic primary care to 27 million Americans. Many centers are already freezing hiring, laying off staff and closing sites due to the uncertain funding stream from Washington.

Other health programs that were set to expire but have been funded, for now, include the National Health Service Corps, which places health practitioners in medically underserved areas, and the teaching health centers program, which trains medical residents in community health centers.