Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) launched an initiative on Thursday to preserve and protect the Pennsylvania Children’s Health Insurance Program, which could be affected by the Affordable Care Act.
“The practical impact of the healthcare law has been to compel thousands of families with income levels between 100 percent and 133 percent of the federal poverty level to lose their PA CHIP coverage and be forced into a comparatively substandard Medicaid program,” Dent said.
Dent organized a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking that she comply with a recent request by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett for the agency to work with state officials to preserve the program.
“CHIP in Pennsylvania is a clear success story,” Dent said. “It is lauded as a national model by other states and consistently receives extremely high marks in customer satisfaction surveys. Forcing people out of this program and into the comparatively substandard Medicaid program is yet another harmful impact of the president’s healthcare law.”
Approximately 188,000 children are currently covered under PA CHIP.
Dent noted that President Obama responded to millions of Americans who lost health coverage after the rollout of ACA by granting the ability to continue existing coverage.
“…I, and my fellow representatives, want the same opportunity for the thousands of Pennsylvania families that have received superior care through PA CHIP,” Dent said.