$1.1 Billion in Children's Health Insurance Funds at Risk of Being Returned to U.S. Treasury
November 12, 2004
State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is currently providing health insurance coverage to almost 4 million children whose families financially do not qualify for Medicaid coverage and who are not offered affordable insurance through their employers. Despite economic problems, the program has allowed the number of uninsured children to remain essentially unchanged in the past two years.
The design of the program gave states just three years to spend their annual allocations, and any unspent funds were taken back and reallocated to states who had already spent their funds. Currently, the U.S Treasury is prepared to take back $1.1 billion in federal money on September 30, 2004. That is enough money to provide health care coverage for about 750,000 uninsured children.
Bi-partisan legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate to extend the availability of these funds. The Senate bill, S.2759, is sponsored by Senators Rockefeller (D-WV), Chafee (R-RI), Kennedy (D-MA), and Snowe (R-ME). The House bill, H.R. 4936, is sponsored by Representative Barton (R-TX) and Dingell (D-MI). Both can be viewed at http://thomas.loc.gov.
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November 12, 2004
State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is currently providing health insurance coverage to almost 4 million children whose families financially do not qualify for Medicaid coverage and who are not offered affordable insurance through their employers. Despite economic problems, the program has allowed the number of uninsured children to remain essentially unchanged in the past two years.
The design of the program gave states just three years to spend their annual allocations, and any unspent funds were taken back and reallocated to states who had already spent their funds. Currently, the U.S Treasury is prepared to take back $1.1 billion in federal money on September 30, 2004. That is enough money to provide health care coverage for about 750,000 uninsured children.
Bi-partisan legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate to extend the availability of these funds. The Senate bill, S.2759, is sponsored by Senators Rockefeller (D-WV), Chafee (R-RI), Kennedy (D-MA), and Snowe (R-ME). The House bill, H.R. 4936, is sponsored by Representative Barton (R-TX) and Dingell (D-MI). Both can be viewed at http://thomas.loc.gov.
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