House Approves Cut in CHIP Contingency Fund

On June 7, the House voted to pass the "rescissions" measure proposed by the president in May. (See the May 9 Update and the May 31 Update.) The 210-206 vote was largely along party lines, with all Democrats in opposition. The bill would cut $7 billion from the budget of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but about $5 billion of that was not available to spend anyway. The other $1.9 billion would be taken from the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund, which provides extra CHIP funding to states that experience an unexpected surge in CHIP enrollment. About $500 billion would remain in the fund. As reflected in this blog post from the Georgetown Center for Children and Families (CCF), child health advocates are concerned about reducing a fund intended, by definition, for use in unexpected circumstances. It is unclear what will happen with this legislation in the Senate. See Spending Cuts Package Faces Uncertain Senate Fate (Roll Call, 6/8/18).