Wisconsin could lose $115 million if Congress doesn't renew children's health program

MADISON - The state stands to lose up to $115 million a year if Congress doesn't renew a program that helps to cover nearly 118,000 children here.

The Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, expired on Sept. 30 because of Congress not acting to reauthorize it, and the money in the program is beginning to run out.

Around the country, some states such as Virginia have been informing parents that their children could lose coverage in the coming months if Congress doesn't act soon.

In Wisconsin, however, children will remain covered because a state law requires it, state Health Services spokeswoman Julie Lund said. But state taxpayers will end up paying more if the federal money runs out, as it is on track to do in March.

"Lack of CHIP funding would have a significant effect on our Medicaid budget, but would not change eligibility for children," Lund said in a statement.

CHIP was aimed at helping the children of families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid health programs but who make too little to afford to private health insurance. First passed at a time when Democrat Bill Clinton was president and Republican Tommy Thompson was governor of Wisconsin, CHIP has helped to substantially raise the number of children with health insurance in the state and around the country.

Children are relatively inexpensive to cover compared to adults and the state and federal government share the cost. CHIP helps states afford the expense by providing a higher level of federal taxpayer support than traditional Medicaid programs do.

That higher level of federal taxpayer reiumbursement will disappear without congressional action.

State Rep. Jimmy Anderson (D-Fitchburg) said U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and other congressional leaders should act to renew a program that helps insure nearly 9 million children nationally.

“So instead of wasting time cutting taxes for Donald Trump's family, Speaker Ryan should get his priorities straight and protect these kids," Anderson said.

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong noted that the House of Representatives passed a bill earlier this month that would reauthorize the program. That legislation has not yet moved in the Senate.

“The House has already passed a CHIP reauthorization and we will continue to work toward a solution with the Senate to ensure states do not run out of money," Strong said.

The federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, raised the federal share of the cost of insuring children in the CHIP program. It is currently at 94%.

Without a renewal of the CHIP program, federal taxpayers will cover only 59% of the costs of insuring those children in Wisconsin. That's a difference that adds up to about $9.5 million more per month that state taxpayers will have to pay to maintain the coverage.

Jon Peacock, research director of the Wisconsin group Kids Forward, said the CHIP program has "enjoyed broad bipartisan support" over the past two decades. He noted that a bipartisan compromise bill in the U.S. Senate has proposed renewing the program with a somewhat lower reimbursement rate than the one in the Affordable Care Act.

That would still cost Wisconsin taxpayers money but not as much as if no renewal is passed, he said.