ROCKEFELLER INTRODUCES BILL TO EXTEND CHIP THROUGH 2019

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Extension Act of 2014 would prevent millions of underserved children and pregnant women from losing access to coverage, care next year

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Health Care and a key architect of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), today introduced the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Extension Act of 2014. The legislation seeks to extend CHIP through 2019.

Without an extension, CHIP funding will expire on September 30, 2015, leaving nearly two million children without access to any affordable health care, and more than eight million children - including 37,000 in West Virginia - without the specific care, services and networks that CHIP provides.

"When I first came to West Virginia in 1964, I worked with kids who'd gone without seeing a doctor or a dentist because their families had no way of accessing affordable health care services. That experience led me to push for greater access to care, including my work to create the Children's Health Insurance Program, which has significantly reduced the number of uninsured children since its enactment nearly two decades ago,"Rockefeller said. "Despite the progress in West Virginia and across the country, too many children remain without health insurance. To address this gap in coverage and to make sure CHIP can continue to provide health care coverage for children and essential services to pregnant women, today I'm introducing the CHIP Extension Act of 2014. This bill will extend CHIP for four more years and give states the opportunity to increase coverage and enrollments."

Go to: http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=0b04e5a9-b6d7-42e4-87fc-8acb7534defa&SK=FAC4DDFD32A5D218D04ACD392A9F8324 for audio of Rockefeller discussing the CHIP Extension Act of 2014.

Background:

Created in 1997, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides high-quality, cost-effective health care to children and pregnant women across the United States through state-run health insurance plans. Rockefeller helped reauthorize the law in 2009 along with former Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

"CHIP has been hugely successful in West Virginia and across the country because it has given children and pregnant women access to care and services that have greatly improved health outcomes. I am so proud of all this program has accomplished, though we still have work to do until every child in this country has access to the care they need for a healthy start in life," Rockefeller added.

The Children's Health Insurance Program Extension Act of 2014 would extend CHIP through 2019, consistent with current requirements that states maintain their CHIP efforts through that date. The bill also gives states incentives to strengthen their CHIP programs by enrolling CHIP-eligible children who remain uninsured, increasing access to dental care, and improving services that specifically benefit pregnant women.

For a one-page summary of the CHIP Extension Act of 2014, go to: <a href="http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=48c49835-77dc-49bb-a248-78ed6c76fb17&SK=D575F75F612DB7462F732716E82DF88D">http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=48c49835-77dc-49bb-a248-78ed6c76fb17&SK=D575F75F612DB7462F732716E82DF88D.

For a timeline of the Senator's actions on CHIP, go to: http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=8365eeb4-4cf6-44ca-932f-3a00054ff4ce&SK=AD08DD8469AE576B4CF3496D2DC319FB.

Read this original document at: http://www.rockefeller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=accacc42-7eb3-4eb3-ae8e-7bdde413ad8f