Arizona Governor Urges Congress to Reauthorize Child Health Insurance Program

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Arizona Gov. Ducey
Credits: KGUN (screenshot from video)

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is encouraging the Congress to reauthorize the funding for Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

In his letter to the members of the Arizona Congressional delegation, he said, CHIP “has never been a partisan issue.” He also emphasized, “There are a lot of things that divide us, but taking care of these kids is something that should unite us.”

According to Gov. Ducey, more than 23,000 kids in Arizona depend on CHIP for their medical treatments. He emphasized that the families of Arizona children are in limbo because of Congress’ inaction to renew the program’s funding.  The parents are wondering if their children will lose health insurance.

Early in October, Hillary Clinton noticed that it is the first time Congress missed the deadline to reauthorize CHIP. She highlighted the issue in a series of tweets last month. Last year, the program provided health insurance coverage for nine million children.

Arizona children from low-income families depend on CHIP

The Republican governor explained that CHIP is known in Arizona as KidsCare. The program provides health insurance coverage to the children whose working parents have low-income. The parents of these children have income between 138% and 200% of the federal poverty level. They are paying premiums of up to $70 a month,