Nothing is more important than our children’s health. That’s why the Children’s Health Insurance Program is so critical. This federal program provides health coverage for low-income children and families.
Unfortunately, political activists are spreading false information to scare disadvantaged families about their coverage under the program. Many in the media are pushing that false narrative as well as omitting important facts about the program.
Shame on them.
So, here are the facts to set the record straight, and the truth to let our most at-risk families have peace of mind.
First of all, the proposed rescission of $7 billion of unused federal CHIP funds does not cut one dollar from the health insurance program — not one dollar.
In January, I voted to extend and fully fund CHIP for six years — the longest period in the program’s 20-year history. The policy experts at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office have confirmed that no beneficiary will be affected by returning $7 billion of unused money to the taxpayers.
Again, not one person receiving CHIP benefits will be impacted — not one.
Additionally, returning the dormant and unused taxpayer dollars to the U.S. Treasury will not impact CHIP enrollment or benefits. Again, no impact.
This means approximately 23,000 at-risk children in Maine will continue to receive health care services, regardless of whether the rescission package is passed. Kids in the program in Maine and across America will continue to have their health insurance coverage until 2023, when CHIP is scheduled for another reauthorization. For the next six years, the money that I voted to fund CHIP with will remain — untouched — in the program.
No one who I know is proposing to take away that money — certainly not me.
In fact, bipartisan congresses have made these kinds of rescissions to unused, dormant CHIP funds multiple times before. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, “from FY2011 through FY2017, multiple appropriations laws have rescinded a total of $42.8 billion in funding from CHIP.”
The proposed rescission bill rounds up $15 billion from many federal programs, including the $7 billion from CHIP, that have not been spent during the past few years. These funds cannot be spent because they were authorized for prior fiscal years. In the case of CHIP, the proposal includes extra unused funds lying dormant in a separate “contingency account,” completely separate from the current CHIP funding.
This is where the critics are spreading lots of misinformation — intentionally, I believe.
The CHIP contingency account provides payments to states that experience funding shortfalls due to higher-than-expected enrollment. This rainy-day fund is very important to protect the children’s health care safety net in case of emergency.
Over the past decade, just $309 million have been drawn from CHIP’s contingency account. Even if the proposed rescission bill were to pass, $500 million would remain in the account.
Again, returning any unused and unspent money to the taxpayers has no impact on current CHIP funding.
The nonpartisan experts at the Congressional Budget Office have confirmed that no CHIP recipient will be impacted if the rescission bill passes, including any beneficiary drawing from the contingency account.
It’s too bad the silly season is upon us again. Get ready for this sort of personal attack and false information for political gain.
Nevertheless, we Mainers are now accustomed to this sort of nonsense. We can tell when someone’s trying to dupe us. But it’s shameful when they use disadvantaged children to do it.
Bruce Poliquin represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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