Abigail Claire Tilton discusses why federally funding CHIP, which provides healthcare to children from lower-income families, is investing in our future as a nation.

1. Funding CHIP is Investing
In Our Future

2. The Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as
CHIP, has long worked to make sure that they have the
healthcare coverage that they need. Established in 1997
under the Clinton administration, CHIP provides
healthcare for children whose families earn too much in
annual income to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to
be able to afford private insurance.

3. It also covers pregnant women — approximately
370,000 annually — and provides care that includes
prescriptions, mental health services, and prenatal and
postpartum care.

4. As of 2016, 8.9 million children were enrolled through
CHIP to gain access to necessary medical coverage that
helps them grow up healthy. It covers check ups,
immunizations, prescriptions, visits to the doctor, dental
and vision care, emergency services and more, with no
enrollment period.

5. CHIP is an incredibly crucial tool for ensuring the health
and safety of children in America that has always
received bipartisan support, yet Congress let funding for
the program lapse on September 30 of this year. Now,
here we are months later, and a bill has yet to be passed
to fund it.

6. In Texas, nearly 400,000 children are covered by CHIP,
and the state’s existing funds will only keep the program
running until the end of January. Governor Greg Abbott
has requested $90 million in federal funding to keep the
program running until the end of February, an additional
month of coverage.

7. As of now, Texans on CHIP will be receiving a letter on
December 22 informing them that their coverage will run
out at the end of January, a terrible announcement to
receive just days before Christmas.

8. Texas has long held the unfortunate position of having
the greatest population of uninsured people in the
country (with 4.5 million people uninsured) and has
recently made the list of the worst states in the country for
healthcare, coming in at No. 41.

9. That’s number 41 out of 50 for the high-income
residents. Across all measures of healthcare, in terms of
access and affordability, Texas ranks fourth from last,
beating only New Mexico, Nevada, and Alaska.

10. Refunding CHIP needs to be a priority for the
representatives in Congress to secure the future and
the health of the United States.