Wyden Statement on Trump Action to Throw Kids and Their Families Off Medicaid and CHIP
Washington, D.C. — Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced they will not allow states in the future to let children keep their health coverage without unnecessary red tape. Beginning in 2024, all states must provide 12 months of continuous health coverage for children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which reduces the risk of eligible children losing coverage due to administrative barriers or temporary fluctuations in family income.
“This terrible development hurts kids and is yet one more awful example of the Trump Administration’s obsession with making it as hard as possible for Americans to access the health care they are eligible for,” Wyden said. “The Trump administration will stop at nothing to rip coverage away from American families, even kids they claim they want to protect. I won’t rest until the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress are held accountable for the harm they are inflicting on working families just trying to make ends meet.”
In 2022, Oregon became the first state to take this proven and helpful policy option a step further by providing multi-year continuous coverage to children from birth up to age 6. The state has authority to do so until September 30, 2027. Since then, several states began implementing their own multi-year continuous eligibility programs. CMS announced today it will not approve new or extend existing section 1115 demonstration authorities that have allowed states to protect coverage in this way.
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