The bond-rating agency Moody’s has issued a report declaring an expiring federal program for children’s health insurance to be a threat to the financial credit of children’s hospitals.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program, which insures children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to buy insurance, expired last fall. It’s now operating on money left in the bank, and some states may run dry imminently. If money runs out, the children would either not receive care or would receive care their parents can’t pay for, loading doctors and hospitals with unpaid bills. That is a “credit negative,” the agency said.
Repeated attempts to renew funding for the CHIP program have failed so far in spite of the fact that it is widely popular in both parties. Instead, GOP leaders have waited to include it in larger bills this year, such as this week's spending bill, as a bargaining chip to lure Democrats to vote for the bigger bill. It was unclear as of Thursday night whether the spending bill would pass, and with it CHIP, or whether the government would shut down and CHIP continue to lapse as well.
A spokeswoman for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which is currently ramping up for $1.3 billion in spending on a new facility, said it remained hopeful CHIP would pass. Moody’s last summer noted that the hospital has high income compared with what it spends and a solid financial position.
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