Expand CHIP

Children are an investment in the future national economy and very unlikely to reside in the same state that they grew up in. Seniors get the same direct federally funded health care benefits anywhere in the country delivered by private companies and so should children.

There is already a program called CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) that covers children from lower-middle-class families who make too much for Medicaid. We should expand CHIP. It should be the same across the country and should be available to middle class families. Since the national child population pool is very large and children are much healthier than seniors, the child-only premiums using nationwide direct federal funding would be much lower than whole family premiums drawing from small divided population pools. Families would pay premiums based upon income.

Currently CHIP is funded jointly by individual states and the federal government and its coverage is very uneven across the country. It is often not available to middle class families. Families often need to relocate across state lines to follow job opportunities and many middle-class families work at small businesses that don’t offer healthcare. Their children should be able to receive the same health care anywhere in the country for the same premiums.

Margaret Mortz

Spokane Valley