In early October 2017, both the House and Senate marked up legislation to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which covers nearly 9 million children and is a key contributor to record-low levels of uninsured children. However, Congress provided funding for CHIP only through fiscal year (FY) 2017, which ended on Sept. 30, and has not yet acted to authorize new funding for FY 2018. In an issue brief prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Manatt Health summarizes the pending legislation and reviews the status of state CHIP programs.

The issue brief summarizes key features of proposed House and Senate extension legislation, including Medicaid and CHIP changes as compared with current law, additional financial support for children’s health coverage, and financial offsets identified in the House bill. Since the issue brief was released, the House of Representatives passed related legislation to extend CHIP. As of late November, the Senate had not yet acted and timing for the final legislation remained unclear.

Click here to read the full RWJF report.