The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and other health organizations recently urged leaders in the U.S. Senate and House to increase financial support for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in the future.
The organizations wrote a letter on Oct. 14 to encourage the leaders to extend federal funding for CHIP, which is scheduled to expire on Sept. 30, 2017. To lengthen the deadline, Congress needs to approve an extension.
"If CHIP funding is not extended beyond 2017, many CHIP-enrolled children and pregnant women would likely become underinsured or uninsured altogether, which would threaten their access to care and the historic gains made insuring children over the past two decades," health representatives said in the letter.
Furthermore, according to the reps, not extending CHIP could harm a large number of children throughout the U.S.
"Children would lose ground if funding for CHIP is not extended," they said.
According to the letter, CHIP has been successful in guaranteeing that there is health coverage for many children and pregnant women in the U.S.
Additional funding would allow states to offer coverage for families that have work but are too poor to pay for private insurance. The strong bipartisan support that CHIP has received shows the universality of the program for people throughout the U.S.
