The United States Congress has failed to renew the Children's Health Insurance Program, better known as the CHIP program.
As The Texas Tribune reports,the failure to reauthorize the program means that 390,000 Texas children and pregnant women will now lose their health coverage unless action is taken to fix the issue. Nationwide, nine million children and pregnant women rely on the CHIP program to access affordable healthcare.
In the event of such a lapse, children across the High Plains will soon be unable to see a doctor for routine checkups, immunizations, or doctor visits when sick or injured. The ending of the CHIP program could have a devastating effect on rural communities and schools on the High Plains.
Rep. Pete Sessions, of the House Rules Committee tried to dampen the fears of parents. “We're going to have to do something,” he said.