Survey: Most states planning on federal funding for CHIP to continue

Most governors are planning upcoming budgets that assume federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program will continue, according to a survey released today by the National Academy for State Health Policy. Thirty-three of the 40 states responding to the December survey said their proposed budgets assume federal funding for CHIP will continue; most of the others were unsure or had not yet determined budget assumptions. Without congressional action, federal funding for CHIP is set to end Sept. 30. Only five states had begun planning for that possibility, while 16 states had begun to discuss the potential implications for children’s coverage should Congress repeal the Affordable Care Act or change Medicaid financing. “States have made substantial progress in covering children and improving their access to quality health care,” said NASHP Executive Director Trish Riley. “With federal funding uncertain, and state budgets already tight, states must look for alternative funding sources or risk children in their states losing coverage and access to care.”