By Heidi Schlumpf, National Catholic Reporter
Catholic health and social justice organizations are opposing a Trump administration proposal to cut funds to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The proposal comes just months after a successful fight to re-authorize the state-administered program, which provides low-cost health insurance to nearly 9 million children and 350,000 pregnant women.
The White House has requested a $7 billion cut to CHIP as part of a $15 billion rescissions package sent to Congress last week to address the spiraling debt. Since the cuts would come from money allocated but not spent or from a contingency fund, the Trump administration insists they would not negatively affect children’s health.