Congressmember Salud Carbajal raised a hue and cry with county health-care officials about the current funding uncertainty hovering for a special federal insurance program targeting minors with parents who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance. As many as 30,000 kids and juveniles could be affected in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties unless federal funding is restored.
In 2017, about 11,000 patients received covered treatment via CenCal due to what’s known as the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. Of those, many received vaccinations, dental care, and mental-health treatment. Three thousand received treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, HPV (human papillomavirus), or tuberculosis; 4,000 were treated for eye, ear, and nervous disorders; and 3,000 for asthma and related allergies. In addition, 415 pregnant women in the two counties received coverage thanks to CHIP, which has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress since its inception in 1997.
Nationwide, the program covers nine million kids at a cost of $19 million. Congress missed this year’s funding authorization deadline of September 30, sidetracked by the intense debate surrounding a last-gasp effort by Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That effort ultimately failed, as have efforts to find an alternative funding stream. Carbajal charged Republicans are trying to use CHIP to further destabilize the ACA. Republicans in the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a plan to fund the kids’ insurance program last week, but only by raiding revenues Carbajal said would otherwise be used to underwrite key provisions of the ACA.
