Back To ArticlesHARRISBURG, PA – Last night, the House of Representatives passed a one-month Continuing Resolution that included a six-year CHIP reauthorization, but did not include funding for community health centers, disaster relief, or any immigration provisions. Antoinette Kraus, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network issued the following statement:
“For decades, the Children’s Health Insurance Program has been a successful, popular, and affordable part of our healthcare safety net, providing coverage to millions of the nation’s children with bipartisan support.
While we believe strongly that any funding bill passed by Congress should provide stable funding for children’s healthcare and Community Health Centers and address the growing opioid crisis, we do not support a bill that does so at the expense of equally important priorities like providing disaster relief for Americans in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and protecting Dreamers who were raised here and call the US home.
Children’s health insurance is not a bargaining chip and Congress needs to put an immediate stop to these political games that put our children’s health at risk. We call on Congress to pass a clean bill that provides permanent authorization and funding for CHIP, particularly given the recent CBO analysis that confirms the program’s very low cost.”