Washington Post

By Bruce Lesley

The Oct. 3 editorial “Children in need” urged Congress to protect funding for the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but it missed one critical point: Congress must approve four more years of funding this year.

CHIP is a state-federal partnership, so both federal and state budget debates matter, and state budget debates are underway. In Maryland, the governor’s budget typically comes in mid-January; in Virginia, the prior December. In some states, it comes in November, nearly a year before the federal funding deadline…

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