Sec. 513. Policy statement on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
257 words·~1 min read·
/bill/115/hconres/71/rh/section-513·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The House finds the following: The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a means-tested program that provides health insurance coverage to low-income children and pregnant women who do not qualify for Medicaid based on income. SCHIP eligibility varies by State, as States decide the income upper limit for beneficiaries; the current upper limit varies from 175 percent of the Federal poverty level to 405 percent of the Federal poverty level. SCHIP covered on average 6.3 million people monthly in fiscal year 2017.
The average cost of a child enrolled in SCHIP to the Federal Government was approximately $2,300 in fiscal year 2017, compared to approximately $1,910 for a child enrolled in Medicaid. The Federal spending allotment for SCHIP will expire at the end of fiscal year 2017. The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission recommends an extension of Federal SCHIP funding, and warns that all States are projected to exhaust their Federal SCHIP funds during fiscal year 2018. SCHIP should be preserved to assist the Nation’s vulnerable children.
It is the policy of this concurrent resolution that— the House should work in a bipartisan manner to reauthorize SCHIP funding; the authorizing committees should consider establishing a Federal upper limit for SCHIP eligibility, rather than providing open-ended access to the program for those at higher income levels; the House should target resources designated for SCHIP toward those most in need of Federal assistance; and the House should require greater reporting by States of SCHIP data in order to better structure the program to meet beneficiaries’ needs.