Advocates of the cheered Thursday when President Obamaās choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services said she supports continued funding for the program, which covers about Ā 8 million low-income children whose familiesā income exceeds Medicaidās eligibility guidelines.
Burwell also noted that in her prior roles in the Clinton administration, she helped create and worked on the program. It is slated to run out of funding in October 2015. The health law authorized the program through 2019 but lawmakers still have to fund it.
If the program ends, many families whose children are now covered by the programĀ would likely have to seek coverage for them in the health lawās new onlineĀ insurance marketplaces.Ā Many advocates fear that not all of theseĀ families would qualify for Medicaid, even in states that expanded eligibility; andĀ the privateĀ plans sold on the exchanges would offer fewer benefits at higher costs.
Ed Walz, vice president of communications for First Focus, a bipartisan childrenās advocacy group, said Burwellās comments indicate that āthe incoming HHS secretary understands that CHIP performs a distinct role.ā The health law ādeliberately didnāt do a lot with CHIPā because the lawās exchanges and Medicaid expansion are focused on adults, he said.
āCHIP provides quality care at a price their parents can afford,ā he said. āWhat we see here is recognition on her part that this aināt broke. We just need to make sure that it just keeps on going.ā
At the hearing, Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr., D-Penn.,Ā noted that some members of both parties āintentionally or unintentionally [have tried] to undermine CHIPā over the last couple of years, but added that āweāre going to fight real hard to make sure we preserve it and fund it at all costs.ā