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| Credit: Mark Makela for The New York Times |
In November, the House passed a bill for the extension of CHIP with a vote of 242 to 174. Yet, senior members of the Finance Committee in the Senate explain that the bipartisan deal on CHIP is still in the making. Both the Democrats and Republicans agree to fund CHIP, but they disagree over how to pay for the program. Many parents, pediatricians, and state officials are worried and frustrated.
Discussion Questions:
What are you opinions on this CHIP situation?
Any ideas on how Congress should pay?
Links:
NYTimes
WP
HealthCare
Medicaid
CCF
18 comments:
In some ways it surprises me that Republicans support CHIP because many were disapproving of Medicare and Medicaid. I'm glad that an important program like this has been approved, but it's concerning that the Senate Finance Committee hasn't found a good way to fund it, further showing how difficult it's been, in recent years especially, for the two parties to find a compromise. Republicans probably wouldn't approve of higher and more taxes and the Democrats probably wouldn't approve of cuts to other welfare programs, so maybe one way of funding the program could be taxing Social Security benefits. Then the government could get and reuse some of the welfare money they already spent.
It's pretty disappointing to see that the Senate cares more about how they should pay for the program rather than focusing on making compromises so that they can actually pass the bill as soon as possible in order to help provide health insurance for the 9 million children who are covered by it. Despite the recent severe polarization between the 2 parties, they must find a way to compromise on how to fund the program in order get the bill passed for the good of the families who rely on CHIP.
I aggree with Justin. Kid's medical care is at stake and it's wrong for the Senate to prolong the passing of anything. This should be in the top three things that Congress needs to address this before the year ends.
First of all, the title of this article is very misleading. It makes it sound like funding is lacking because Congress is unwilling to find a way to fund the bill. This is not true. Congress has already established that the extension of CHIP is a positive thing, so the only issue is that they cannot agree on how to fund it. I understand why people are worried, but I think that they need to understand that it is common for Congress to disagree on issues. I believe that Congress will eventually find a way to compromise on the funding of this bill and ensure that it succeeds.
I can agree with Nico, in that the problem isn't a group not wanting to fund CHIP, but instead Congress wants to renew the program they just don't know where to find the funding. I think that Congress will extend CHIP, but they are taking too much time. Child health care is an important issue, and people will continue to worry until Congress funds the program, so the Senate should make it a priority to address the problem before the year ends.
The CHIP is definitely a rarity in current politics. As a program similar to Medicaid, it's really cool to receive "strong bipartisan support" in a country where polarization is becoming more and more evident. With support from both parties, I feel like the only reason why funding wouldn't be provided is because Congress simply isn't prioritizing it. And they should: it's absolutely devastating for relatively low-income families to be forced to switch to more expensive private insurance, and children's health is extremely important.
I agree that it is important for Congress to extent CHIP and to do so in a timely manner. It is very scary for low-income families when they cannot find a way to pay for their kids medical insurance and it is wrong for Congress to be prolonging the process of extending CHIP. Child health care is important and finding funds for it should be a priority.
Democrats have said that "Congress should have provided money for CHIP months ago, but that Republicans had placed a higher priority on dismantling the Affordable Care Act and cutting taxes," demonstrating a partisanship which leads to deadlock. Prioritizing the tax bill is definitely more disheartening than focusing on the CHIP program. According to the Washington Post, the situation is "extra infuriating for health advocates because [CHIP] is one of the few health-care policies both parties agree on." Although both parties agree on this program, progress has come to a stop. Additionally, the health of 9 million children under CHIP is at stake if the program is not renewed, and looking for new, private health insurance is risky and most unlikely because prices may be too high for low-income families.
I think it's important to extend CHIP. It must be very frustrating and scary when your child is ill and has no way of getting treated because you don't have enough money to afford it. I think this was a huge help to millions of families that now depend on it. I think CHIP should be a priority in Congress right now.
As many have previously stated, I think that it is very important to extend funding for CHIP, as it is an important program that provides irreplaceable services and health resources to many children and families. It would be a shame to have people not have access to child healthcare, which is something that every child deserves and should be entitled to, just because of a lack of income. From the article, it seems that both parties are on board with extending it, which like Chris stated is a "rarity" because it is not too often that both parties agree on the same issue. At the same time, this development also highlights the downfalls that bipartisanship can have, as although upon first glance it seems that both parties agree, in reality competing parties will never completely agree and be totally bipartisan. While they both think that extending the funding is important, they have different ideas and desires on how to extend the funding, which has prevented progress from continuing. From the sound of it, the situation has the potential to remain in deadlock for a while, as the Republicans are more focused on other goals such as repealing the ACA. Hopefully this situation does not remain in deadlock, as many families rely on these services and will need to be sure that they will be available in the future.
I think that the continuation of funding for CHIP is a necessary. The program helps to drive the care of young, impoverished families, without any other options. This program provides these families will access to needed healthcare. Furthermore, both parties seem to support its renewal and a bipartisan agreement would be welcomed in passing a new budget for the loans.
Funding for CHIP must be made a priority and should be extended, as it affects h millions of low-income children in the country. In a recent CNN article, 16 states, including California, are expected to exhaust their funding for CHIP by the end of January. This is extremely scary as it currently provides coverage for almost nine million children country-wide. Though the 16 states are expected to run out by January 2018, this is not the end of it. By April, all states, except for the unknown three that are unreported, will run out of funding. I hope that Congress can quickly come up with a resolution and not leave it sitting, as it has been.
Funding for the CHIP is important , but just as any other fund must be carefully considered this one must be also. Yes the CHIP is very important, but where the funds are coming from is always a big issue. I believe that even though these children need health insurance as fast as possible, we need to carefully consider the source of funds. Just think, what if the funding somehow runs out? I'm not sure if this concern is actually plausible, but if it is then we should be making sure that the source of the money for these funds will not somehow be cut in the future.It is important that we work to effectively sole this problem
Funding CHIP is extremely necessary, and it is nice to see that the government agrees so. I'm sure many low income families under the program are worried about what will happen if the government does not figure out how to pay. Like Winston said, the way CHIP is funded needs to be in an organized and effective manner. I hope the government figures it out soon but their is no easy answer as to how it will be funded.
CHIP is an extremely important healthcare program and its funding should be a priority. CHIP covers close to nine million U.S. children from low-income families!! All these families must be extremely worried, since they don't know what to expect. Congress needs to figure out a solution, for child healthcare is extremely important. It's scary for a low-income family to have to even think about having to pay for their child's insurance. Congress shouldn't be prolonging the process of extending CHIP. This is wrong, for it is extremely necessary, and action needs to be taken immediately. Hopefully Congress will be able to find a solution for funding by the end of the year.
CHIP is a very important and necessary program that Congress has to find a way to fund. Many children from poor families need this program for healthcare because their parents cannot afford it themselves. If Congress does not find a way to pay for this program, then I am afraid for the children and their parents and worry how they will find healthcare.
The CHIP program is extremely important to low-income families who need healthcare for their children. I'm glad to see that the government agrees that the CHIP program is necessary, but I think it should be made a higher priority since many rely on CHIPS funding. I hope they're able to come to a decision soon and continue to assist those 9 million people counting on them.
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