State Representative Tina Davis (D-Bucks) announced Wednesday that the Child Health Insurance Program got a new lease on life with the passage of House Bill 108.
Davis said she was proud to support the measure that not only extended CHIP through December 2015 but also eliminates the requirement that kids go at least six months without insurance before being eligible, the statement says.
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The measure extending CHIP – it was due to expire at the end of 2013 – was signed into law hours after the state House of Representatives gave it unanimous approval, according to an announcement on the House Democratic Website.
The extension Davis said comes just in time citing a report from The Hospital and Health system Association of Pennsylvania – HAP — that the number of uninsured Pennsylvanians increased by 11 percent in 2012 according to the report 156,000 more state residents went without health insurance compared with 2011.
The report is available on the HAP website, www.haponline.org.
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CHIP covers immunizations; wellness checkups; prescriptions; dental, vision and hearing services; diagnostic testing; emergency care; mental health benefits; and hospitalization, as well as substance abuse rehabilitation and other services,according to the program’s website.
