Texas Senate Passes Senate Version of CHIP Restoration Bill

The Texas Senate has passed the Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 109, the CHIP restoration bill. Because the Senate and House versions of the bill are different, the bill will go to a conference committee that will have until the end of this week to report back a compromise bill to both chambers for final approval.

State budget experts estimate that the Senate version of HB 109 would cover fewer children than the House version of the bill. Under the Senate version, about 35,000 fewer children would be covered over the next two years than under the House version; the cost of the Senate version for the next two years is estimated to be about $14 million less than the House version in state dollars.

Both the House and Senate versions of HB 109 provide for 12-month continuous eligibility for CHIP. Unlike the House version, the Senate version includes a provision directing the Health and Human Services Commission to establish a mid-year “administrative eligibility review” for families above 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

The administrative review would consist of passive data matches; lawmakers stress that families should not be required to submit any additional information unless the review raises concern that their income had increased substantially since their initial eligibility determination. Budget makers expect that the administrative review process will result in loss of eligibility for some children.

Texas Impact supports the inclusion of a mid-year administrative review as long as it creates no new paperwork for families. However, we do not support using the as-yet undeveloped administrative review as a rationale for reducing CHIP funding below the level already approved in the House budget. Instead, legislators should fully fund CHIP for this biennium and assess the results of the administrative review process prior to the 2009 session to see if any changes to the budget are warranted.