Washington, D.C. - October 3, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- On September 30, funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired after Congress missed a deadline to reauthorize the initiative. CHIP provides insurance coverage for children in low- and middle-income families.
Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (D-AL) releases the following statement:
“The failure of Republican leadership to reauthorize CHIP puts the health of 150,000 Alabama children and 9 million children nationwide on the line,” said Rep. Sewell. “Many families in my district and across Alabama rely on CHIP to cover their children’s checkups, immunizations, emergency care and more. Rather than wasting more time on partisan attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I am urging my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to focus on what we can do now to help stabilize the insurance marketplace and make health care more affordable for all families. That starts with reauthorizing CHIP and maintaining Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, which the majority of our hospitals rely on to offset the cost of uncompensated care. As hospitals in my district face closure and Alabama families struggle to pay for doctor visits, I am calling on Republican leadership to hold a vote now reauthorizing CHIP and protecting DSH payments. Not a week from now, not a month from now, but right now.”
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