In a new report from The Hill, Connecticut has announced it will be ending its low and middle-income health care program for children at the end of this year, on January 31st.
CHIP to end in another state
The announcement, made on the official state website, states:
“Unfortunately, federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), known in Connecticut as HUSKY B, ended on September 30, 2017, because Congress failed to take action to extend the program. Connecticut has been able to continue offering HUSKY B beyond that date by using leftover federal funding. However, these funds are expected to run out on January 31, 2018.
As a result, we must plan to close the HUSKY B program. Unless additional federal funding becomes available, HUSKY B services and coverage for eligible children and teenagers will end on January 31, 2018.”
The Republican-controlled Congress allowed the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a popular and normally bi-partisan program which covers 9 million low and middle-income kids, to lapse in September. Both the House and the Senate have drafted bills to extend CHIP, but the House version contains steep and contentious offsets to both the Affordable Care Act and Medicare — both non-starters for the Democrats. This has left the bills in limbo. In many states, CHIP is surviving only on rapidly depleting reserve funding.
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Connecticut is not the first state to feel the impact of the lack of funding. Colorado has already made a similar announcement, also ending the program on January 31st. Additionally, Alabama plans to freeze enrollment at the start of the new year.
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