01.30.09

Cantwell: Washington State Kids Win "Fair Share" of CHIP

Nearly $100 Million For Health Care Will Head to State From Passage of Cantwell's CHIP Fix

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, the U.S. passed an extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which includes a “fair share fix” secured by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to get more Washington state children access to quality affordable health care. Under Cantwell’s fix, which she got passed by the Senate twice in the last Congress only to have the president’s veto prevent it from taking effect, Washington state will receive, and be able to use, more federal money to provide health care for vulnerable low-income children. The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 66-32.

“Today, the Senate made good on its promise to provide those most in need with the healthcare they deserve,” said Cantwell.  “After eight years of playing partisan politics with children’s health, we finally took a stand to do right by our nation’s kids.  The State of Washington has blazed the trail to providing children with access to care, and now, thanks to this fix, nearly 6,000 more kids will be eligible for coverage under CHIP, and the state will be able to use CHIP funds for a portion of the coverage of another 180,000 plus children.  As more and more people lose their jobs, and more and more kids become eligible for CHIP, making sure the state gets its ‘fair share’ is more important than ever.”

CHIP provides health insurance to children living in families not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, but still unable to afford private health insurance. Under current law, Washington state receives $79.9 million in CHIP funding; under the fix that Cantwell secured, the state will receive a projected $94 million.  For the first time since CHIP was created, Washington will have full access to its fair share of the program’s funding to help more Washington children.  CHIP rules have previously prevented Washington from using its allocation to cover the thousands of remaining uninsured low-income children who would have otherwise been eligible and so Washington has been forced to hand back almost $200 million since the program’s creation in 1997—all of it money the state could have used to cover uninsured children. 

"I applaud the work and leadership of Sen. Cantwell and other members of our delegation in achieving SCHIP reauthorization," Gov. Chris Gregoire said. "Washington has been a national leader in helping low-income families provide health insurance for their children. We are making great strides to provide every child with access to quality health care, but it is critical that the federal government is a partner in our efforts. This legislation strengthens that partnership, and will be a benefit to children not only in Washington state, but across the nation."

In 2007, Cantwell fought repeatedly with her colleagues to extend this program, despite President Bush’s two vetoes of the CHIP bills.  The updated bill is nearly identical to the 2007 bills (HR 976 and HR 3963) with modifications made to address new cost projections and budgetary issues. The $31.5 billion legislation will preserve coverage for as many as 6.7 million children enrolled in the program, and will provide coverage to 3.9 million additional uninsured, low-income children in the U.S.  Current authorization for CHIP expires on March 31, 2009, and President-elect Obama has indicated he intends to sign the bill into law.

Included in this updated version of the 2007 bills are the following key elements:

  • Formulas for allotting federal funds to states are improved to more accurately reflect changes in projected spending for each state
  • Funding for outreach and enrollment efforts
  • Bonus payments to states for enrolling lowest-income children for health coverage
  • Contingency fund to protect states from shortfalls in unforeseen emergencies, and to provide bonus funding for enrollment of lowest-income children for health coverage
  • Maintains focus on those most in need by providing the Medicaid level of federal funding for children in families above 300 percent of federal poverty level, rather than the higher level of federal funding that is offered to children in lower income levels under CHIP
  • States can use information from food stamp programs and other initiatives for low-income families to find and enroll eligible children
  • Reduces barriers to help employers offer CHIP and Medicaid funded health coverage to the children of eligible employees
  • Options to cover pregnant women for prenatal care
  • Funds for existing coverage of low-income parents will transition to a lower federal matching rate
  • Childless adults will be moved out of CHIP
  • New waivers for additional adult coverage in CHIP will not be permitted
Specific changes from 2007 CHIP legislation include:
  • Funding of $31.5 billion, changed from $35 billion in 2007 to reflect budgetary changes
  • Reauthorization for a period of four and a half years (through September 2013) rather than five years as proposed in 2007.  
  • Targets the bonus system used to encourage states to enroll eligible individuals at Medicaid, where it is most effective, instead of at both Medicaid and CHIP
  • Slight revisions to the tobacco tax increases

 
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