Washington – On February 4, 2009, legislation was enacted to extend and strengthen the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Today, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (Public Law 111-3) plays a central role in protecting children’s health. Through CHIP, more than nine million children this year will get the care they need to stay healthy and can see a doctor when they are sick or injured. And though the recession cost millions of children their employer-sponsored insurance, because of CHIP and Medicaid, the uninsured rate among children in America today is lower than before the recession. But CHIP funding will expire next year, unless Congress acts to extend it.
In recognition of the anniversary, First Focus released a fact sheet on CHIP’s central role in the future of children’s health, as well as the following statement by First Focus president Bruce Lesley:
“For more than 15 years, CHIP has been there to protect children’s health and families’ economic security. Republicans and Democrats in Congress deserve our thanks for rising above politics to make life better for real children in real families all over America. But that success story is at risk, and Republicans and Democrats must again act to make children their first focus.”