To Our Valued Stakeholders,

Our partners at state Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) put out an important update this week on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Federal funding expired on Saturday (September 30). HCPF estimates Colorado has enough money on hand to keep the program operating through January 31, 2018.

It’s important that the 75,000 children and nearly 800 pregnant mothers covered under the program in our state continue using benefits through January but it’s time for them to start planning for potential changes in January. For many, the best option will be obtaining subsidized coverage through Connect for Health Colorado. We continue to prepare for that possibility with HCPF but recipients should sign up for updates through their PEAK accounts and we can all follow developments on the Future of Child Health Plan Plus web site.

In Other News

Congress can act at any time on reauthorizing the CHIP program, which has received bipartisan support for decades. But it looks a little different this year. The New York Times has reported that a measure to reauthorize the program ran into opposition in the House Energy and Commerce Committee added provisions affecting Medicare and Medicaid.

The partisan dispute leaves it difficult to say when to expect the question to be resolved. We continue to prepare to serve that population until it is.

Take care,

Kevin

Kevin Patterson, MURP, MPA
Chief Executive Officer
Connect for Health Colorado