U.S. President Donald Trump greets Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) during an event to celebrate Congress passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with Republican members of the House and Senate on the South Lawn of the White House December 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. The tax bill is the first major legislative victory for the GOP-controlled Congress and Trump since he took office almost one year ago. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Health groups blasted the Republican-led Congress Thursday evening for approving only enough funding to pay for children’s health insurance through March, leaving doctors and their patients in limbo.
Though there has been bipartisan consensus in Congress in the past to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program every five years, Republicans who control the Senate and the House were focused this week on passing a massive tax cut. Meanwhile, the CHIP program won an extension of just three months for about 9 million children of low-income families.
But even the short-term CHIP funding is not good for patients already being told they may not have coverage, according to doctors, hospitals and patient advocates.
“Governors are worried, notices are going out to families about potential interruptions in coverage, and the Department of Health and Human Services has been making emergency payments because states are running out of money,” American Medical Association President Dr. David Barbe said Thursday night after Congress approved a short-term funding bill to keep the government open and fund CHIP for three more months.
Some states such as Colorado have been warning parents of impacted children that they should look at other options for care as a contingency.
“A piecemeal contingency plan is no way to run a vital program for the nation’s children,” AMA ’s Barbe said. “Given the broad support for CHIP in Congress, in the states, and across health care stakeholder groups, we are flummoxed about just what it takes for Washington to get the job done. Three full months after the program expired, the best Congress can come up with is another short-term extension for CHIP and other critical public health programs.”
The pressure may be getting to some members of Congress, particularly Republicans in states with a high concentration of children covered by CHIP.
“This continuing resolution extends the VA Choice program that provides health care to our veterans, funds community health centers and extends the State Children’s Health Insurance Program or CHIP,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican. “These programs are essential to West Virginia’s veterans, families and children. I am committed to working with my colleagues to enact a full-year government funding bill and long-term funding for the CHIP program early in 2018.”
Hospitals say the lack of a long-term solution to CHIP funding is problematic given a potential loss of coverage patients may see from other unfunded programs.
“The temporary relief Congress gave the Children’s Health Insurance Program, while appreciated, won’t stop the loss of health care access and jobs that occurs when disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts hit with full force January 1,” America’s Essential Hospitals CEO Dr. Bruce Siegel said. “Hospitals cannot sustain these losses without scaling back services or closing altogether, especially as the ranks of the uninsured swell with the end of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate.”
Article source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2017/12/21/doctors-congress-leaves-childrens-health-in-limbo-without-long-term-funding/