WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA), full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today released a discussion draft of legislation to extend the critically important State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Extending the program has been a priority for the congressional leaders as funding for SCHIP is scheduled to expire on Sept. 30, 2015. Bipartisan, bicameral committee leaders last year sent letters to the nation’s governors seeking input on the program. The governors generally supported the extension of SCHIP funding and provided a number of ideas to improve the program.
At an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing last year, experts from the Congressional Research Service, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), and Government Accountability Office testified that hundreds of thousands of children could be uninsured, and millions could face higher cost-sharing in the health law’s exchanges if Congress does not extend the program.
Pitts, Upton, and Hatch are soliciting feedback on the discussion draft that would extend SCHIP funding and sustain access to affordable health coverage for millions of children.
“The State Children’s Health Insurance Program is a vitally important program that has historically received bipartisan support," commented Pitts, Upton, and Hatch. “Our governors have provided important feedback for how to strengthen this program, and we will continue to work in a thoughtful and transparent manner to provide states the certainty they need as they craft their budgets this spring. We can all come together to ensure kids have access to quality care."
Read the complete discussion draft online HERE.
Read a one-page summary of the draft online HERE.
Read a detailed summary of the draft online HERE.
To submit feedback on the discussion draft, contact the chairmen’s offices.
