President Trump’s proposed budget cuts include cutting into the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid.
Combined, these programs provide healthcare for nearly 46 million children across the country.
Each state runs its own version of the program with requirements that vary state by state, but all states receive funding from the federal government. The federal government’s funds are usually mixed with state funding, depending on how the state chooses to operate.
Medicaid and CHIP are two of several cuts in President Trump’s budget. Other proposed changes include reduced funding for the CDC, refugee healthcare, the FDA and Planned Parenthood.
Trump believes his budget will trim unnecessary spending, but others, such as Joan Alker, the director of Georgetown University’s Children and Families Center, think the cuts will create more harm than good. “To hear that on top of the massive cuts to Medicaid, there could be significant CHIP cuts on top of that, is shocking to me. And shortsighted. And very harmful,” Alker said.
Next, Trump’s proposed budget will next be voted on in congress, where it is likely to undergo changes.
Photo by Gage Skidmore, CC-BY
Savannah McCoy is a freelance journalist based in Athens, Georgia. She is an avid sports fan and Game of Thrones junkie. Valar Morghulis.