Trending News Today: Concerns Surround Future of Children's Health Insurance Program

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides health insurance for children with special needs or those with low-income families. The American Health Care Act recently approved by the House of Representatives would cut $1 trillion to Medicaid, which may threaten coverage for children. Additionally, CHIP must be reauthorized by September 30, 2017, and some worry that this may be used to negotiate the approval of the AHCA, according to USA Today.

In honor of Women’s Health Week, President Donald Trump voiced support for improving access to certain women’s health services, including prenatal care. President Trump also said that paid family leave for both new parents was important and he will work with Congress to work toward this goal, according to Politico. However, cuts proposed in the AHCA would eliminate funding for Medicaid and Planned Parenthood, which provides services for a large portion of women in America.

Some patients may appear healthy and have enough to eat based on brief interactions with a primary care physician, but may actually be struggling to afford food. For the past 2 years, a hospital based in Houston, TX, has been asking patients if they had enough food to eat or had access to nutritious, fresh food, Kaiser Health News reported. If the patients were running low on food, they would be directed to food banks that allow access to healthy foods. The physicians found that 11% of their patients had food insecurity, which was much higher than expected, according to Kaiser.