Politico Pulse

By Erin Mershon

CHIP EXTENSION BILLS HIT BOTH CHAMBERS — Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday introduced a bill to extend CHIP funding through the 2019 fiscal year. Unlike a measure introduced last year by then-Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Protecting & Retaining Our Children’s Health Insurance Program (PRO-CHIP) Act would be a clean extension of funding, which is currently set to expire at the end of September. In the House, Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone and Gene Green put out a CHIP extension that would also aim to reduce bureaucracy and increase state flexibility. Senate bill summary: http://politico.pro/17pEDjU The Dear Colleague letter from Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ron Wyden, Debbie Stabenow and Robert Casey: http://politico.pro/1voRCaI

— A chorus of children’s advocacy groups cheered the move, including March of Dimes and First Focus. The American Academy of Pediatrics captured the growing sense of urgency in its statement: “Our families should not face uncertainty when it comes to their children’s health. State governments should be able to effectively budget for the program now, before many of them approach the end of their legislative sessions. America’s pediatricians are counting on Congress to extend CHIP without delay.”…

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