By TAYLOR STUCK
The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, will be funded, promised U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito on Friday during a stop at the West Virginia Press Association’s Legislative Lookahead in Charleston.
Capito, R-W.Va., said she wishes the Senate would have funded the program when the House approved it, instead of passing short-term funding for just a few weeks at a time. She said the program was critical to her and said she guarantees it will be reauthorized and funded.
CHIP provides insurance to children in low-income families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.
Congress passed a resolution to keep the government open in December, which included about $3 billion in short-term CHIP money to keep state CHIP programs funded.
If CHIP is not reauthorized, West Virginia will be especially hard-hit because the program is now 100 percent federally funded. West Virginia lawmakers have decided to end CHIP by Feb. 28 if Congress does not extend its financing. The program serves about 21,000 West Virginia children. …
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