The Senate Finance Committee Wednesday held a markup for the KIDS Act of 2017 (S. 1827), which would reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Congress let the program expire on September 30 and now must extend it. CHIP serves nearly 9 million low-income children who are not covered through their family’s job-based insurance and are not eligible for Medicaid.

CHIP has been instrumental in reducing the number of uninsured children to record lows. Combined with Medicaid, CHIP provides crucial health care coverage for 40% of children. Timing is critical to extend CHIP. Some states do not have available stopgap funding to ensure the coverage and services provided under CHIP will continue to be available for low-income children. Thursday, the NEA Board of Directors lobbied members of Congress to extend CHIP. Click on the take action button to tell your members of Congress to act swiftly to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

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