Hatch Applauds Senate Passage of Longest Ever CHIP Extension, Delay of Obamacare Taxes

Julia Lawless 202-224-4515

Hatch Applauds Senate Passage of Longest Ever CHIP Extension, Delay of Obamacare Taxes

Utah Senator Says, "I am delighted we were able to come together to advance the longest ever CHIP extension in the program's history...We were also able to build on the repeal of the individual mandate tax and continue unwinding Obamacare by delaying the healthcare law's most egregious taxes"

WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today praised Senate passage of the longest ever extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), through fiscal year (FY) 2023, and delaying three of Obamacare's most egregious taxes - the medical device tax through 2019, the Cadillac tax through 2021 and the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) in 2019.

"I am delighted we were able to come together to advance the longest ever CHIP extension in the program's history - and in a bipartisan fashion, no less," Hatch said. "Throughout our negotiations, including hearings and committee passage this fall, members of the Senate Finance Committee have been committed to working across the aisle to end the short-term fixes and provide long-term certainty for children and states across the country. This program has been rooted in bipartisanship since its creation, and this extension will ensure children who rely on CHIP continue to have the ability to access quality health care.

"We were also able to build on the repeal of the individual mandate tax and continue unwinding Obamacare by delaying the healthcare law's most egregious taxes - the Medical Device tax, Cadillac tax and Health Insurance Tax. These delays will save jobs, encourage medical innovation, and help protect consumers. I will continue to work with my colleagues toward permanent repeals of Obamacare taxes."

Background

Children enrolled in CHIP are much more likely than children without insurance to have their medical needs met and 25 percent more likely to get annual checkups. The bipartisan, six-year CHIP extension would:

*Extend CHIP funding through FY 2023;

*Maintain the enhanced federal matching rate at 23 percent through FY 2019, change to 11.5 percent for FY 2020, and return to zero percent, or a traditional CHIP matching rate for fiscal years 2021, 2022 and 2023; and

*Create protections and flexibility under the maintenance-of-effort provision.

Hatch has long advocated that the burdensome Obamacare taxes should be repealed in their entirety. In fact, Hatch successfully secured delays for these taxes when Congress passed the PATH Act in 2015, which he authored.

The Senate Finance Committee, the committee with the largest jurisdiction in either House of Congress, oversees more than 50 percent of the federal budget and has jurisdiction over large portions of the American healthcare system, including Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and Obamacare.