Blog by W. Stephen Love, President/CEO of the DFW Hospital Council

While many are talking about the tax reform legislation ( passed yesterday ) this morning, some key elements missing from the Congressional end- of-year spending bill will impact providers and beneficiaries in healthcare.

It appears the Children’s Health Insurance Program ( CHIP ) permanent funding will be pushed into 2018. While Texas is okay through February 2018 per state officials, many states ( approximately 25-30 ) will not have sufficient CHIP funding as the temporary fix of $2.85 billion for 2 quarters will fall significantly short of needed funding.

Equally concerning are the notifications sent to parents regarding funding shortfalls which obviously will cause much stress and anxiety. Congress also failed to include cost-sharing reduction payments and reimbursement funding to shore up the individual insurance markets. Two important Medicare programs for rural and critical access hospitals—the Medicare dependent hospital program and the low-volume adjustment have also expired and are left out of the current year-end package.

We need to contact our Congressional representatives immediately and insist they help these children, rural hospitals and people striving to obtain insurance through the health insurance marketplace before they leave Washington for the holiday.