Deal for kids health program again eludes Congress

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Congress has again failed to approve long-term funds for a popular program that provides health insurance for nearly 9 million low-income children, leaving each party blaming the other for Christmas-season gridlock and states scrambling to decide how to parcel out dwindling money.

Lawmakers scurrying to leave the Capitol for the holidays were expected to approve a short-term patch designed to keep state programs operating through March, though some Republicans said federal officials think the money would run out by early February. They approved a similar stopgap solution in September that was about to expire.

Democrats and Republicans agree that finances for the Children’s Health Insurance Program should be renewed for five years, but they’ve clashed over how to pay for it. And while few think Congress would blunder into letting the money completely lapse – which no lawmaker would care to defend with elections approaching – an effort to provide long-term money collapsed as leaders punted a bunch of unresolved issues until early next year.

“What GOP is obsessed with: Ramming through tax cuts for the rich and powerful,” tweeted Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. “What GOP completely ignores: Extending #CHIP – health care for our children.”

“We would love to pass it. They won’t let us,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview, asserting that Democrats had blocked a multiyear extension.

As the issue slipped into next year, the two top senators on the issue – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and top committee Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon – issued a statement promising to seek a five-year extension soon.