Fourteen states this year are facing federal budgetary shortfalls for SCHIP because of inflation, higher enrollment levels and program expansions, USA Today reports. Democratic lawmakers want to provide an additional $745 million through a bill funding the Iraq war to maintain coverage levels through the end of this fiscal year.
If the government does not allocate more than its current $5 billion annual allotment for the program, 35 states will face shortfalls by 2012 and 1.5 million children could lose coverage, according to USA Today. Some lawmakers see SCHIP as a "precursor to universal coverage" and want to allocate $60 billion over five years to enroll an additional six million eligible children in the program, USA Today reports. President Bush has proposed a funding level of $4.8 billion over five years, and he wants the program to refocus on providing coverage to low-income children. In recent years, some states have expanded enrollment eligibility to include children in families with higher income levels and some adults. Georgia's SCHIP, PeachCare, will freeze enrollment beginning Sunday because of budgetary shortfalls. Other states facing shortfalls this year are Alaska, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Wisconsin (Wolf [1], USA Today, 3/9).