BUDGET/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the top Democrat on the panel announced on Tuesday [9-12-17] night that they had reached agreement on a plan to prevent the imminent exhaustion of federal funds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The current appropriation runs out at the end of this month, and many states will exhaust their allotments of federal money later this year or early next year.
Nearly nine million children receive health insurance through the program, on which the federal government has been spending about $14 billion a year. The program is for children in families that make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford other coverage.
The agreement was announced by the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, and the senior Democrat on the panel, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon…
The agreement would provide federal funds for the program for five additional years.
Mr. Wyden said the agreement was ‘a great deal for America’s kids.’ “
-Robert Pear, “Deal Struck to Extend Financing for Children’s Health Program,” The New York Times online, Sept. 12, 2017