U.S. House passes bills to prop up CHIP through March; aid Lehigh Valley schools with displaced students

Dec. 22--As lawmakers rushed off Capitol Hill for winter break, a pair of bills passed the U.S. House Thursday that include money to keep Pennsylvania's state-run children's health insurance program operating through March, as well as aid for Lehigh Valley schools that have taken in students displaced by the Puerto Rican hurricane.

But only one of the measures -- a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government operating through Jan. 19 -- cleared the U.S. Senate later Thursday evening, leaving the $81 billion disaster relief bill and its schools funding lingering until next year.

The spending bill offers some limited assurances to families of the 180,000 children -- including 11,000 in Lehigh and Northampton counties -- who are enrolled in Pennsylvania's children's health insurance program, known as CHIP.

CHIP provides health insurance to 9 million children nationally whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but can't afford private insurance. It covers doctor visits, prescriptions, dental care and other services, at no cost for some and a low cost for others, depending on household size and income.

While it's a joint program between the state and federal governments, Washington provides 90 percent of the funding for Pennsylvania's CHIP program.

The bill's $2.85 billion is expected to shore up any states whose programs will run out of money before March 31. But agreement could not be reached in Congress on fully reauthorizing the program for several years, leaving a longer-term funding solution to be sorted out when lawmakers return to D.C. in January.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services says Pennsylvania's program has enough money to continue operating until sometime in February and potentially into March. Notices would be sent out to families 30 days before the program would need to shut down, but for now, there have not been changes in eligibility or services offered.

"It sounds like there might be a tiny Band-aid on a mighty big problem," said Joan Benso, president and CEO of advocacy group Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. "But Congress needs to do their job. It's that simple."

In the Senate, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey opposed the spending bill and Republican Sen. Pat Toomey voted in support.

Pennsylvania's U.S. House members largely divided along party lines -- with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed -- on the four-week government funding bill and the disaster-relief legislation. The only exception was Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican from south-central Pennsylvania who opposed both measures.

"This bill is bad government and bad policy instead of a real, lasting, bipartisan solution," said Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-17, which includes part of Northampton County. "We can't continue the dysfunction of funding the government a few weeks at a time. We need to provide long-term certainty to children and families who rely on CHIP."

Republican Rep. Charlie Dent, R-15, describes the final flurry of short-term patches as "a punt" and "a can-kick."

"It's too bad it came to this," said Dent, who represents Lehigh County and part of Northampton County and holds a key post on the House Appropriations Committee. "I can't say I was shocked. I was really hoping that we'd be able to have a budget agreement prior to the new year. But we don't."

Dent had advocated for including money in the disaster relief bill -- which will assist those recovering from hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, and wildfires in California -- to also help Lehigh Valley schools that have taken in more than 450 new students whose families fled Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria to recoup some of their costs.

The bill that passed the House on Thursday provides $2.9 billion for public, private and parochial school districts nationally that have taken in displaced students. Schools would be eligible for funding based on the number of students they've taken in, with grants pegged at $8,500 per pupil and slightly larger amounts for disabled and ESL students.

In the Lehigh Valley, the Allentown School District has taken in more than 300, and Bethlehem Area School District has added 150 students who have enrolled recently from Puerto Rico.

More than 500 new students from Puerto Rico also have arrived at school districts in the 16th District, mostly in the Reading and Lancaster areas.

Those issues aren't the only loose ends that lawmakers are leaving unfinished. Congress also is expected to tackle immigration policy in early 2018 before the March expiration of a program shielding from deportation young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, after some sought unsuccessfully for voting on an immigration bill this year.

Medical device manufacturers in the Lehigh Valley also will be watching to see if Congress reverses a tax on the devices they produce. That levy, which was created in Obamacare, was suspended for two years but will go back into effect in January. However, lawmakers could suspend that tax again retroactively, preventing any effects on those manufacturers.

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