On July 31, the Senate approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 2854) to extend the availability of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) funds. The House approved H.R. 2854 on July 25 before adjourning for the August recess.
Created in 1997, the SCHIP program provides grants for states to provide health insurance to children from families with incomes that exceed the maximum for Medicaid eligibility but are insufficient to cover the cost of private health insurance. Federal funding for the program is provided through state-specific annual allotments. While many states were unable to use all of their allotments, others have spent all of their funds.
Sponsored by Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Billy Tauzin (R-LA), H.R. 2854 would allow states to continue to use $1.2 billion in SCHIP funds originally allocated for FY1998-99 through FY2004. The bill also would extend for one additional year the availability of $1.5 billion in funds from FY2000 and 2001 allotments. This would allow 50 percent of each year’s unspent money to be retained by states that have not used their entire allotment. The remaining 50 percent of the unspent money would be distributed to states that have used all of their respective year’s allotment
