Dear Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker McCarthy, Minority Leader Jeffries, Chairman Wyden, Ranking Member Crapo, Chairman McMorris Rodgers, and Ranking Member Pallone:
Stable access to affordable and comprehensive health care is essential for the well-being and future success of our nation’s children. Yet, the health care coverage of over 7 million children is not secure because the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is not permanent. As leading national, state, tribal, and local organizations concerned about the health and well-being of America’s children, we urge you to pass a permanent extension of CHIP through the Children’s Health Insurance Program Permanency (CHIPP) Act (H.R.4771).
The CHIPP Act would take the long overdue step of making CHIP permanent and placing it on par with other federal public health insurance programs. Most importantly, the CHIPP Act secures access to quality, affordable health care coverage for millions of the nation’s children, offering families stability and peace of mind while eliminating the fear and anxiety that arises with temporary funding extensions and the threat of the program’s discontinuation.
Since its enactment, CHIP has been an essential source of children’s health care coverage. It ensures access to high-quality, affordable, pediatric-appropriate health care for children in working families whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but, for whom, private insurance is unavailable or too expensive. CHIP’s impact on improving children’s health outcomes, ensuring equitable access to health care, and providing financial security to families cannot be overstated. For over 25 years, CHIP has helped:
- Reduce the number of uninsured children: CHIP, in tandem with Medicaid, has reduced the number of uninsured children by more than 68 percent, from an uninsurance rate of nearly 15 percent in 1997 to less than five percent in 2016.
- Safeguard children’s health: CHIP is vital for children in households with low-incomes that do have Medicaid access. It provides crucial healthcare services like preventive care, vaccinations, dental, vision care, and other necessary treatments.
- Promote prevention and early intervention: CHIP has been a crucial driver in promoting preventive care and early intervention for children’s health issues. Regular check-ups, vaccinations, screenings, and early identification of developmental delays or chronic conditions are pivotal for addressing health concerns before they become more severe and costly to treat.
- Reduce health disparities: In 2021 more than half of Native American, Black, multi-racial, and Latino children relied on Medicaid and CHIP as their source of health coverage. Children from these historically excluded communities face significant health disparities and CHIP has been instrumental in narrowing these gaps by providing quality, comprehensive, and affordable coverage to these populations.
- Promote academic success and overall well-being: CHIP’s comprehensive health coverage, which includes both physical and behavioral health, promotes academic success. Healthy kids attend school regularly, participate actively, and reach their full potential.
- Relieve financial burden on families: One of the greatest benefits of CHIP is its ability to alleviate the financial strain on families with limited resources. By providing affordable health care coverage, CHIP allows parents to prioritize their children’s health without sacrificing other essential needs.
Despite its importance for children and their families, Congress has failed, as a body, to prioritize CHIP’s permanence. Instead, CHIP has faced repeated threats throughout its history, including being held hostage in recent funding cycles for policies having nothing to do with children; being vetoed twice; and even going unfunded for four months.
Although the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, extended CHIP for an additional two years, the program remains the only federal health care coverage program that is not permanent. Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) are not subject to periodic reauthorization like CHIP. Waiting to make CHIP permanent any longer will only increase costs and threaten the program’s future. It also inhibits the ability of states to further improve upon CHIP in ways that are tailored to better serve children locally.
Congress can put an end to the recurrent funding dilemma that stands in the way of securing millions of children’s access to critical, life-saving coverage and care. We urge you to prioritize the health and well-being of the nation’s children by taking bold action to pass the CHIPP Act during the 118th Congress.
Should you have any questions or wish to discuss the contents of this letter further, please contact Abuko D. Estrada, J.D., Vice President for Medicaid and Child Health Policy, at abukoe@firstfocus.org and Abbie Malloy, Director for Health, Environmental, and Nutrition Policy, at abbiem@firstfocus.org.
Respectfully,
The Undersigned Organizations