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Families anxiously await fate of CHIP

The Eagle - 11/28/2017

Maria Guerrero's four children receive a variety of services from the Brazos Valley Rehabilitation Center -- counseling for obsessive compulsive disorder and adolescence issues for her teens, plus occupational, physical and speech therapies to help her 6-year old diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. But they may soon lose their health insurance, putting a financial burden on a family that has come to rely on the coverage.

Speaking through a translator, Guerrero said all four of her children have health insurance through the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. Congress missed a Sept. 30 deadline to extend CHIP, putting health coverage at risk for almost 9 million children and 370,000 pregnant women nationwide who receive insurance through the 20-year-old program.

According to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, there are 2,133 children covered by CHIP in Brazos County, 181 in Burleson County, 331 in Grimes County and 372 in Milam County.

Anne Dunkelberg, associate director at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, said the key date is Dec. 9: Congress either needs to pass a bill renewing the funding, or state officials need to know if the federal Medicaid program will give Texas at least $90 million in redistribution funds, which Dunkelberg said "just buys us a little time" and extends the coverage through February. If neither of those happen, state officials will send out letters on Dec. 14 telling parents that their children's coverage will be gone in February.

"Basically, you're looking at kids either going without insurance or having to try to get on a parent's plan at work or trying to get coverage through the marketplace," she said, referring to the Affordable Care Act's healthcare.gov website.

Children who enroll in CHIP coverage are from families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to purchase private insurance. The insurance helps families pay for immunizations, doctor's visits, eye and dental exams and therapy services.

"There's a lot going on in Washington, but we shouldn't let an important discussion like a tax reform bill make us forget about the well-being of Texas children," Dunkelberg said.

Alina Fifer, chief executive of the Brazos Valley Rehabilitation Center, estimated that four families who receive services from BVRC have CHIP coverage. She said her staff is identifying other coverage options for those families, taking an individualized approach to working around the potential CHIP expiration. They also are seeing if those families qualify for a Medicaid buy-in program or can access health care through the ACA exchange, and, as a last resort because of limited funding, providing financial assistance.

"The minute you initiate this dialogue, they're taken aback. They're just outraged when they hear that," Fifer said of the reaction from families unaware their children could be uninsured in February. "No family is ready to shell out $12,000, $15,000 every year, and that's just for the premiums."

Guerrero's husband works six or seven days per week as a welder; she said his employer offers health insurance, but it is too costly for all six family members. CHIP has helped the Guerrero children -- ages 3 to 17 -- get counseling and therapy services, as well as medications and office visits for minor illnesses and viruses. The family is working with a social worker at BVRC to identify other options.

Bruce Van Alstyne said he was "at wits' end" at the prospect of losing coverage for the speech and occupational therapies his 10-year-old son, Kristopher, has been receiving at BVRC since his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.

Van Alstyne said he received a letter around Nov. 17 informing him his son's CHIP coverage would be dropped at the end of January. Though he said the insurance is being taken away because his wife made more money than expected from her private violin lessons -- a financially inconsistent line of work where pay varies monthly, he said -- the Van Alstynes' coverage will end in February regardless, along with the nearly 400,000 children across Texas if Congress doesn't act soon.

"I'm not saying I want a handout or a freebie or anything, but we're not making the kind of money ... where we can just shell out this money for this," Van Alstyne said.

Partly in response to the unstable politics of health care coverage, Van Alstyne researches ways to help his son and family without having to rely on modern medicine and health insurance. He talks about the potential benefits of hemp and cannabis oils on those living with autism and the importance of eating food untouched by chemicals.

"I'm doing my own research because I have to. I've been forced to do that," he said.

Guerrero asked that congressional representatives think through legislative solutions and how they would impact others' lives. What Congress passes, she said, affects taxpayers' money. The whole possibility of CHIP being taken away, she said, makes families like hers feel hopeless.

In a statement to The Eagle, U.S. Rep. Bill Flores said CHIP "provides Texas children with the health care they need to flourish and grow."

Flores said CHIP's reauthorization "was held up by House and Senate Democrats throughout the summer and into the fall," leading Republicans to pass the CHAMPIONING HEALTHY KIDS Act on Nov. 3. The bill, which would reauthorize funding for CHIP and extend community health center funding, passed the House with 15 Democrats voting in favor. The bill would cut $6.3 billion from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, created by the Affordable Care Act, while funding CHIP for five years.

"With many states facing funding shortfalls in the coming months, it is crucial that the Senate act on legislation that President Trump can sign into law to provide certainty for children and the families that rely on CHIP," Flores said in the statement.