State CHIP Enrollment Bonuses Would Be Eliminated Under GOP Plan

House Republicans have approved a provision that would eliminate funding bonuses for states meeting enrollment targets for their Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP), POLITICO reports.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted last week to remove $400 million in bonus funding established as part of the program's 2009 reauthorization. The Budget Committee will take up the proposal next week, according to the outlet.

GOP members cited the need to prevent fraud and to make the program fiscally sustainable in approving the proposal, according to POLITICO.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has paid $296 million to 23 states, according to a department release from December. CHIP enrollment has increased by 1.2 million children since the bonus program was initiated, the department said. Bonus payments had been approved through 2013 under the reauthorization, reports POLITICO.

The proposal is unlikely to pass through the Democratic-majority Senate, the news outlet noted.