What If CHIP Funds Run Out? Here’s What 6 Families Would Do
January 10, 2018
By: Fahima Haque
Source: The New York Times
The Children’s Health Insurance Program, better known as CHIP, covers nearly nine million children whose parents earn too much for Medicaid, but not enough to afford other coverage. But the program, which ran out of funding in September, is at a crisis point. Congress passed a stopgap spending bill late last month that was expected to keep CHIP running through March, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said some states could run out of money as early as next week. We asked readers to tell us how they would be affected if their children lost CHIP coverage. Their stories have been condensed and edited for clarity.
“It’s a recipe for a sick society, literally.”
Rebecca Ribiero, 45, a hospital social worker of Newfield, N.Y. Her husband, Alexandre, 42, is an assistant manager at Cornell University. CHIP covers their son, Max, 12, who has a learning disorder.
I worry about what will happen to my kids, and to my husband and me…