Markey: child health insurance funding must stay
Andy Metzger/SHNS
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey shook hands on Monday with Katie Cone, whose daughter Charlie (front) requires frequent medical attention.
It would be an "abomination" for Congress to stop funding health insurance for children, according to a top official at Boston Children's Hospital who joined U.S. Sen. Ed Markey Monday to rally support for a program at risk of running out of money.
After Congress let a September reauthorization deadline slip by, experts predicted funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) would dry up in some states – including Massachusetts – in early 2018. Markey said there has been no word from Congressional leaders on when CHIP might be reauthorized.
Modeled on a program in Massachusetts, CHIP offers coverage for children and pregnant mothers who don't qualify for Medicaid, making it "possible for virtually all of our children to find access to affordable and appropriate care," said Dr. Kevin Churchwell, the executive vice president of health affairs and chief operating officer of Children's.
CHIP covers 172,000 Bay State children and without reauthorization the state would lose $295 million annually, according to a letter business groups, health care advocates and the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association sent to the state's federal delegation on Dec. 6.
"Not to have insurance for children is – can I say abomination?" Churchwell asked during a press conference, turning to the Malden Democrat for feedback on his choice of rhetoric. "Is that OK?"
"It's a good word," Markey responded.
"It's an abomination," Churchwell continued. "For us to be a society that doesn't take care of our children is totally inappropriate and it's something that we need to get fixed."
The U.S. House on Nov. 2 passed a bill to reauthorize CHIP and offset the cost with cuts to the Prevention and Public Health Fund and other measures, according to Children's Hospital, which said a similar bill in the U.S. Senate has not been scheduled for a vote and an end-of-year spending bill could be a vehicle to restore federal funding.
The Republican-controlled Congress has devoted much of its attention in the past several weeks to a bill that offers substantial corporate tax cuts, which Markey believes has a good chance of reaching President Donald Trump's desk.
"Their idea of a week-before-Christmas package is to give more to those who already have much while leaving in doubt what they're going to do for those who have too little and are worried that they'll be left behind," Markey said. He said, "It is Robin Hood in reverse. That is what the Republicans are doing. They're taking from the middle class and the poor and are going to give even more to the rich. They're going to create huge deficits."
Outgoing Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen expressed reservations about the tax bill's impact on the deficit while predicting it would provide a "modest lift" to gross domestic product.
"This is designed to be a middle-class tax cut," U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said earlier this month.
Markey said no Democrats will vote for the tax bill, but Republicans are poised to pass it.
"They're on the verge of successfully garnering together the votes that will be necessary to pass this tax break, and right now it's on the schedule to be voted on tomorrow or Wednesday in the House and the Senate and they would not be moving forward so rapidly if they did not think they had the votes," Markey said Monday.
Without CHIP funding, children could go without vaccines, miss regular checkups and lose their asthma medication, according to Dr. Carole Allen, a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
Massachusetts is one of 16 states that will run out of its remaining CHIP funds in January, said Allen, a former member of the Health Policy Commission who is on the board of Health Resources in Action, which promotes the idea that "good health is a right, not a privilege."
In Massachusetts, the Baker administration is taking steps to make existing MassHealth funds available to cover spending needs if the program is not soon reauthorized.
"It would blow a huge hole in the state budget if CHIP were not renewed," said Brian Rosman, director of policy and government relations for Health Care for All. He said, "They would have to take money from something else."
Milford resident Katie Cone attended Monday's presser with her 7-year-old daughter Charlie, who is missing large portions of her brain, requiring frequent medical attention. Charlie is covered by Medicaid and private insurance, and Cone said she attended the event because she believes no child should go without needed medical care.
"It's scary," Cone told reporters in the Hale Family Center at Children's Hospital. She said, "They didn't ask for any of this."
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