Arise Citizens’ Policy Project policy director Jim Carnes issued the following statement Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, in response to the U.S. Senate’s vote to renew federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years:

“The parents of more than 85,000 children with ALL Kids coverage finally received some overdue good news today: Their kids aren’t about to lose health insurance. Congress’ agreement to renew CHIP funding for six years will allow ALL Kids to avoid an enrollment freeze and continue providing life-saving coverage for Alabama children.

“Families across Alabama deserve to breathe a sigh of relief, but it never should have come to this. CHIP funding deserved a quick, straightforward renewal before it expired nearly four months ago. Delaying the renewal and tying it to other important issues was unnecessary and irresponsible.

“A big untold story is the stress that Congress’ inaction placed on millions of hard-working parents across the country who lost the certainty that their children would be able to get the health care they needed. Instead of protecting children’s health coverage, congressional leaders spent month after month trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Then they focused on passing a tax bill that disproportionately benefited rich people and large corporations.

“CHIP, known as ALL Kids in Alabama, is a proven success story that played a big part in cutting our state’s uninsured rate for children from 20 percent to just 2.4 percent over the last two decades. Other states have seen similar improvements.

“Letting CHIP funding expire and remain in doubt for months was an attack on families. Congress should make sure this sad chapter can’t be repeated. It’s time to fund CHIP permanently and guarantee that all children can receive the health care they need to grow and thrive.”