Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Trying to understand what services are available to children who do not qualify for Medicaid and whose families lack access to affordable employer based or private insurance can be daunting.

In Idaho there is the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that is available to fill this gap. But, on September 30th of this year Congress let the program expire. Many states have enough funds to carry them through the first of the year or into the first quarter of 2018, but then what?

There is a proposal in Congress to renew CHIP  by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.,  that would continue funding at 2017 levels for another two years, with reductions in future years.

According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho’s program has funding through January 2018. If the Hatch, Wyden proposal is not passed, then Idaho’s contingency plan is to move the 35,000 children currently receiving CHIP onto Medicaid but the impacts of this move are still being studied.

Advocates for children are concerned and are reaching out to the Idaho delegation in Washington to move forward with extending the program.

If you want more information, I have attached a great flyer and here is a link to a story recently published in the Idaho Statesman.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/state/idaho/article176662071.html