What Happens When CHIP Funds Run Out : NPR
Cathy Caldwell
One of the central issues of the shutdown battle is the Children's Health Insurance Program. NPR's Michel Martin talks with Alabama CHIP Director Cathy Caldwell about the program  which covers 9 million low-income kids across the U.S.
And joining us now is  Cathy Caldwell .  She  is the director of Alabama's CHIP program.  She 's speaking to us from Prattville  Ala.  Cathy Caldwell   thank you so much for speaking with us.
 CATHY CALDWELL : Oh  thank you for having me.
 CALDWELL : Sure. The Children's Health Insurance Program provides health insurance to uninsured children whose family income is above the Medicaid level. Currently  in Alabama  we have over 85 000 children insured in that program.
CALDWELL: And  we  did receive some additional funding. But  we 're still worried that it's going to run out before too long. What will happen when  we  exhaust  our  funding -  we  will dis-enroll children from the program. Many of those children will become uninsured. So for many  they will probably not be able to access all of the services they need.
CALDWELL: I would like to say that there is huge urgency. I think some people look at the numbers and think that if  we  still have a few weeks of funding  then there's no urgency. That is absolutely not the case. These are large programs with many children enrolled. And so if in fact funding does not continue  then  we  have to shut down  our  programs. It is going to take time and many resources to accomplish that. So  we  need Congress to act and extend funding. And  we  really need to get that down this month.
MARTIN: That's  Cathy Caldwell .  She  is the director of Alabama's CHIP program.  We  reached  her  in Prattville  Ala.  Cathy Caldwell   thank you so much for speaking with  us .  We  really appreciate it.
 CALDWELL : Oh  you're very welcome. Thanks for having me.
Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit  our  website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
One of the central issues of the shutdown battle is the Children's Health Insurance Program. NPR's Michel Martin talks with [TGT] about the program  which covers 9 million low-income kids across the U.S.
And joining us now is  [TGT] .  [TGT]  is the director of Alabama's CHIP program.  [TGT] 's speaking to us from Prattville  Ala.  [TGT]   thank you so much for speaking with us.
 [TGT] : Oh  thank you for having me.
 [TGT] : Sure. The Children's Health Insurance Program provides health insurance to uninsured children whose family income is above the Medicaid level. Currently  in Alabama  we have over 85 000 children insured in that program.
[TGT]: And  we  did receive some additional funding. But  we 're still worried that it's going to run out before too long. What will happen when  [TGT]  exhaust  [TGT]  funding -  we  will dis-enroll children from the program. Many of those children will become uninsured. So for many  they will probably not be able to access all of the services they need.
[TGT]: I would like to say that there is huge urgency. I think some people look at the numbers and think that if  we  still have a few weeks of funding  then there's no urgency. That is absolutely not the case. These are large programs with many children enrolled. And so if in fact funding does not continue  then  [TGT]  have to shut down  [TGT]  programs. It is going to take time and many resources to accomplish that. So  we  need Congress to act and extend funding. And  we  really need to get that down this month.
MARTIN: That's  [TGT] .  [TGT]  is the director of Alabama's CHIP program.  We  reached  [TGT]  in Prattville  Ala.  [TGT]   thank you so much for speaking with  us .  We  really appreciate it.
 [TGT] : Oh  you're very welcome. Thanks for having me.
Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit  our  website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.