URGENT ACTION ALERT: Protect CHIP benefits

The deadline to reauthorize funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was September 30th, but Congress failed to take action. And a bi-partisan deal passed out of the Senate Finance Committee to extend CHIP funding for another 5 years faces challenges in the House as Democrats raise opposition to provisions in the bill that take away funding from other health programs to pay for CHIP.

Now, the program’s future remains largely unknown. Without a reauthorization of the funding, all states are expected to run out of money within the year – some even as early as this December.  Congress must act fact to pass a ‘clean’ bill extending CHIP funding to ensure the program continues without disruption.

TAKE ACTION: Contact your members of Congress and urge them to take action immediately to reauthorize CHIP funding. Tell them that nearly nine million children – including over 200,000 Ohio children – and their families are depending on them to extend funding for the program without attaching reauthorization to other health care programs – like Medicaid or the ACA – or making structural changes to the program, such as rollbacks of funding or eligibility. Congress must make CHIP reauthorization a priority!

For more context about what’s at stake if the funding expires, read a guest blog on the Women’s Public Policy Network website from an Ohio mom and advocate who shared her family’s story using CHIP benefits. Read the full post here.