CHIP Coverage Cliff Threatens 7M Kids

The reconciliation law's least-discussed provision ends continuous eligibility for children - and FQHCs will feel it first.

7 million children could lose health coverage this year.

Not because they no longer qualify. Because the system processing their eligibility cannot keep up.

The House-passed reconciliation law includes provisions that most healthcare leaders have not read closely enough: a mandate that states conduct eligibility redeterminations every six months for Medicaid expansion adults beginning December 31, 2026, the elimination of continuous eligibility protections put in place after the pandemic, and $990 billion in gross Medicaid and CHIP federal spending cuts over the next ten years - the largest Medicaid cuts in American history.

The headlines focus on work requirements. The real danger to children is quieter. It is buried in renewal cycles, paperwork deadlines, and a bureaucratic infrastructure that was never designed to process 35 million families every six months without losing some of them.