CHIP deal reached
Saturday afternoon, negotiators agreed to restore the Children's Health Insurance Program more than halfway toward the enrollment it had in September 2003.
Since then, CHIP rolls shrank by 201,000 youngsters, mostly because of cuts that helped lawmakers dig out of a $10 billion budget hole. Under the deal, which now goes to the two chambers for approval, enrollment would climb by nearly 128,000.
The Senate accepted a final offer by the lead House negotiator, Houston Democrat Sylvester Turner. He insisted that if the state does any electronic income checks six months into kids' coverage, as senators demanded, it'll scan just the top 10 percent of CHIP households by income. The Senate wanted the top 43 percent checked.
The bill would allow families again to submit paperwork once a year, instead of every six months, and to deduct from income their child-care expenses. Asset limits would be loosened and a 90-day wait eliminated for most new applicants.