First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to the lead sponsors of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Permanency (CHIPP) Act (H.R. 1791) in support of the legislation, which will prevent another lapse in the Children’s Health Insurance Program program by providing permanent funding.

Excerpt from the letter:

Since its enactment in 1997, CHIP provides millions of children yearly with child-specific health care such as pediatricians and children’s hospitals, which sometimes go missing from typical insurance plans. Aimed at families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private health insurance, CHIP is one of the most effective and affordable mechanisms for providing care to our country’s kids. Yet CHIP is the only federal health insurance program that is subject to the continuous threat of expiration. In 2017, CHIP expired for over 4 months – endangering the health care of millions of children.

The CHIPP Act will prevent another lapse in the CHIP program by providing permanent funding. Not only that, it will also allow states to more easily expand eligibility up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, therefore increasing access to the program.

Read the full letter.