Trending News Today: Children's Health Insurance Program Funding Secured

Only a few years after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed, the number of uninsured Americans dropped from 29 million in 2015 to 28.1 million in 2016, according to Kaiser Health News. The US Census Bureau found that the uninsured rate was 8.8% in 2016, after remaining at 9.1% in 2015. Both of these findings represent a record low for the country, according to the article. In 2009, before the ACA, the uninsured rate was nearly 17%.

The Senate Finance Committee announced yesterday the creation of a bipartisan approach to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which is up for renewal at the end of the month, according to The New York Times. Approximately 9 million children are currently insured through CHIP. Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) said that this new proposal would provide uninterrupted funding for the program for 5 years and increase flexibility for states, according to the Times.

GOP leaders have less than a month to gain support for another Republican-led approach to healthcare reform or start a bipartisan effort, Politico reported. Procedural powers for a repeal of the ACA expire at the end of the month, a time in which insurers have to decide whether to participate in ACA exchanges for 2018, according to the article. A group of Republican senators are attempting to gather support for replacing the ACA with block grants, while bipartisan efforts aim to stabilize the markets through subsidies and other provisions.