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OPINION

Nearly two decades
of successfully
covering children:

The past, present and future of the
Children’s Health Insurance Program

By Ryan D. Van Ramshorst, MD

Texas State Rep. Dawnna Dukes (TX-46) speaks at a 2007 rally for HB 109 in Austin as other state legislators listen. Photo courtesy Texas Medicine

“How is healthcare for uninsured children controversial?” I re- after taxpayer dollars.
member thinking to myself back in 2007 as I learned that the Chil-
dren’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) would be a priority topic In 2003, the legislature voted to decrease coverage eligibility
to be covered at an upcoming Texas Medical Association First Tues-
days advocacy event in Austin. from 12 to 6 months, impose a 90-day waiting period for unin-

I was a naïve first-year medical student in Houston, and this was sured children to receive coverage, and increase CHIP premiums.
my first foray into health policy and physician advocacy. During
that 80th Texas legislative session, CHIP was front and center. When these provisions went into effect, more than 100,000 Texas
House Bill 109 undertook rolling back restrictions on CHIP which
were detrimental to some of Texas’ most in-need citizens: unin- children lost coverage. Among other important actions, HB 109
sured children. Such restrictions were passed under the guise of
program improvement in an effort to save the state highly sought- restored 12-month continuous eligibility and eliminated the 90-

day waiting period for uninsured children – making the Texas

CHIP program better for the children it served. I am proud that I

played a (very small) role in strengthening this vital program –

even as a junior medical student who still didn’t even understand

what a “SOAP” note was. Continued on page 20

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