30 Ways in 30 Days: Children's Health Insurance

Short-funding CHIP Could Send More Kids to ER for Care

A Senate-passed budget includes a nearly $8 million reduction to the Governor's funding request for the Children's Health Insurance Program. With the loss of federal matching dollars, the cut would deny CHIP coverage to almost 12,000 children.
 
HARRISBURG (June 26, 2009) - As job losses mount and fewer employers offer health care coverage for dependents, many Pennsylvania families have turned to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Demand for CHIP is expected to rise in the year ahead, prompting Governor Ed Rendell to propose a $7.7 million increase in funding for the program in the 2009-10 Fiscal Year.

By contrast, Senate Bill 850 scraps that increase and flat-funds CHIP in 2009-10, which would deny coverage to almost 12,000 children.
 
Joan Benso, president and chief executive officer of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, told The Reading Eagle in a story today that this cut would cost Pennsylvania money in the long run.
 
"What happens to the family that can't afford quality child care or medical treatment?" she told the newspaper.

"Children without health insurance will end up in the emergency room," she added.
 
The Reading Eagle story also examines how other potential budget cuts would impact Berks County. Read the story here.

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