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The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP, formerly the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)) was created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, enacted Title XXI of the Social Security Act, and has allocated about $20 billion over 10 years to help states insure low-income children who are ineligible for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance. States receive an enhanced federal match (greater than the state’s Medicaid match) to provide for this coverage. In 2007, after President Bush and Congress could not agree on CHIP reauthorization details, the program was extended through March 2009. In February 2009, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 was approved by Congress and signed by President Obama. In concert with the signing, President Obama sent a memorandum to CMS requesting that they immediately withdraw the August 17, 2007 Directive sent to state health officials which imposed conditions on states and limited their options to provide coverage to uninsured children. He requested that they implement CHIP from this time forward without these requirements.
by Joseph Henchman and Gerald Prante
Fiscal Fact No. 158
The House of Representatives yesterday voted 289-139 to pass a 156% increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes (taking it from 39 cents per pack to $1.00, not counting state taxes which average over $1 a pack). The estimated $33 billion tax hike (over 4-1/2 years) would be earmarked to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). The bill is almost identical to a previous version that was vetoed in the summer of 2007, and it will soon go to the Senate.
Some opponents take issue with the mechanics of funding health care for children, and some with the idea of government involvement at all. Our criticism is much narrower: a politically popular and expensive program should never be funded by a small, low-income, politically unpopular minority like cigarette smokers.