Warner, Kaine Co-Sponsor Legislation To Extend The Children's Health Insurance Program

Press Release

With federal funding that provides health care coverage to more than 10 million children nationwide through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) set to expire, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine today joined 38 of their Senate colleagues to introduce legislation that would extend CHIP funding through 2019. If Congress fails to extend CHIP, funding for the program will lapse in September 2015, leaving millions of children and pregnant women nationwide, including more than 196,000 in Virginia, without access to affordable, comprehensive health care coverage.

"I am a big believer in the tremendous role of the Children's Health Insurance Program in providing access to quality health coverage for Virginia's children and working families," Warner said. "One of my proudest accomplishments as Governor was a dramatic turn-around in Virginia's underperforming CHIP program. We broke down barriers to enrollment, amped-up community outreach, and eventually enrolled 98% of Virginia's eligible children. This CHIP partnership helps thousands of Virginia families access safe, affordable health care for their kids, and we should make sure its funding does not expire."

"I'm proud to support funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, which protects comprehensive health care coverage for more than 196,000 children in Virginia," said Kaine. "Without this program, hardworking families would be stuck with unreasonable out-of-pocket costs and many children would go uninsured. Funding CHIP is critical to ensuring that children across Virginia continue to receive high-quality health care."

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