Under current law, there are no new federal funds for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for fiscal year (FY) 2018 or beyond. States have two years to spend their existing annual allotments, and unspent allotments are available for redistribution to other states experiencing CHIP funding shortfalls. However, unless Congress acts to renew funding, all states will experience a shortfall in CHIP funds in FY 2018. This fact sheet updates MACPAC’s July 2017 issue brief, using data from states’ projections of CHIP spending for FYs 2017 and 2018 that were reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in August 2017.
In MACPAC’s January 2017 Recommendations for the Future of CHIP and Children’s Coverage, the Commission recommended extending federal CHIP funding for a five-year period as part of a broader set of recommendations for CHIP and the future of children’s coverage. The need for congressional action to renew CHIP funding is urgent to ensure the stability of children’s coverage during a time in which health insurance markets are facing substantial changes, and to provide budgetary certainty for states.