Congress will miss Saturday’s deadline to renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The program expires at the end of the fiscal year, which is Sept. 30, but the earliest that state-run CHIP programs would run out of funding is in a few months. Some lawmakers say they plan to reauthorize the program in the next few weeks.
“It didn’t occur before the end of the month, and I regret that, but at the same time it is going to get done pretty quickly,” said Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, chairman of the health subcommittee in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He added the legislation could be passed by early October.
A Senate aide said the Senate Finance Committee is still working on finding a path forward on the legislation, which has been introduced in the committee. The program provides block grants for health insurance plans for low-income children.
Three states and the District of Columbia are expected to run out of funds in December, according to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, a congressional advisory body.
Most states are expected to run out of CHIP funds by March.
