LOOKING FORWARD

Hatch Open to Extending Children’s Health Insurance Further

In addition to the new 6-year extension.

During floor remarks on Wednesday, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the finance committee chairman, highlighted his approval of the six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in the most recent short-term spending bill. But he also expressed interested in extending the program for a full ten years, something that Democrats have been pushing for and which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would actually save the government money. “I’m definitely open to having a conversation with my colleagues on how we might move forward to support an additional four years of funding for CHIP,” Hatch said. “In my view, if we can work together to pass a bill adding four years to the six already in place, that would be fantastic.” During the shutdown, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced an amendment to permanently extend CHIP funding to which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) objected.

—Gideon Resnick

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Gideon ResnickPolitical Reporter

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