#FundCHIPColorado

Update from the CHIP Coalition:

"A report from the Georgetown Center for Children and Families discussing the implications of Congress’s delay in financing the CHIP program. The report highlights a number of important issues in Colorado:

• Colorado estimates that it will cost the state $300,000 to turn enrollment on and off, which would further deplete remaining funds.
• Though Colorado has funds to continue the program until early 2018, it plans to begin sending notices to CHIP enrollees before the end of the year.
• The upper income range of Colorado’s CHIP programs (206 to 250 percent of the federal poverty level) is financed by a provider fee that is contingent on federal funding – this means that absent federal action or a change is state law, it will not be possible to continue CHIP coverage for this group of enrollees beyond the end of federal CHIP funding in early 2018.

Representatives of the Colorado CHIP Coalition met with the Medicaid Department to learn more about their communications plans. The Department is planning to send some program information to CHIP families in mid-to-late November. If Congress does not act before the end of the year, official coverage termination notices will go out at the end of December, letting families know that CHIP coverage will be ending at the end of January 2018 and that they should look for other coverage options for their families. The Department has updated their future of CHP+ website to include information for members, providers, stakeholders and advocates, and county and eligibility partners. The website is here: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/hcpf/future-child-health-plan-plus-chp. We will stay in touch with the Department and are continuing to develop materials and advocacy strategies directed at our Federal delegation to urge swift CHIP reauthorization. We will be in touch with additional information in the coming weeks."