Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., argued Thursday that Congress shouldn’t wait until December to take action to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is set to expire at the end of the month.
“This cannot wait until December,” he said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. “Because states run their programs differently, some will run out of funding earlier than others. And in that time, no family should face the panic of being unable to get the care their sick child needs.”
Last year, about 8.9 million children were enrolled in CHIP, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
Wyden’s comments come as President Trump and Democratic congressional leaders reached a deal to extend the debt ceiling and keep government funding going for three months. Wyden said that shouldn’t lead to a short-term extension for CHIP, and that Congress should figure out a longer-term fix.
The CHIP program has wide bipartisan support, but so far, there hasn’t been a bill yet to reauthorize and fund it beyond Sept. 30.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the committee’s chairman, said that there are a lot of issues already before the committee, and questioned whether there is enough time to give “full and fair consideration to CHIP reforms prior to the expiration of federal funding.”
But a short-term extension comes with its own questions, Hatch added.
“For example, we’ll need to determine the appropriate length for the extension and whether to continue with the 23 percent increase in federal matching for CHIP providing under the Affordable Care Act and extended in 2015,” he said in his opening statement.
