Even as Republicans scheme to pass a bill that will plunge our nation into a trillion dollars of debt in order to lower billionaires’ taxes, they have yet to find the money to treat sick children from low-income families. Today, we learned that some children and families will begin to pay the price for Republicans’ failings.
Congressional Republicans declined to reauthorize funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) when it expired in September, but existing funds were expected to last at last until the end of the year, and into March in some states.
With less than two weeks left in 2017, families in poorer states have begun receiving notices that if Congress fails to act, their children’s health coverage may be cancelled next year. Without new funding in place, Alabama had to go a step further, announcing today that they are freezing enrollment in the ironically titled “All Kids” program effective January 1 and cancel the coverage for all who are currently enrolled on February 1.
Republicans argue that they are willing to reauthorize CHIP, but only if the funding is paired with cuts to healthcare that other vulnerable Americans depend on.
The cruelty of Congressional Republicans has grown cartoonishly evil this year. With a single goal of enriching their wealthy donors, Republicans in Congress have proven time and again that there is no group of Americans — outside the wealthiest 0.1% — that they are unwilling to inflict with permanent harm.
