S-1827 : Still Just a Bill

Keep Kids' Insurance Dependable and Secure Act of 2017 or the KIDS Act of 2017

This bill amends titles XI (General Provisions), XIX (Medicaid), and XXI (Children's Health Insurance Program) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act to extend funding for CHIP through FY2022 and otherwise revise provisions related to CHIP and Medicaid.

The bill also extends funding through FY2022 for:

• the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund,
• the Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project,
• the Pediatric Quality Measures Program, and
• specified outreach and enrollment grants.

In addition, the bill reauthorizes through FY2022:

• the qualifying-states option (which allows states that provided coverage to now CHIP-eligible children prior to CHIP's enactment to continue to provide such coverage), and
• the express-lane eligibility option (which allows states to use eligibility findings from other public benefit programs to determine children's eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP).

Beginning in FY2020, the bill allows state child-health plans to adopt more restrictive eligibility standards with respect to children in families whose income exceeds 300% of the poverty line.

Current law provides states with an enhanced Federal Matching Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for child-health assistance through FY2019. The bill maintains the enhanced FMAP in FY2020, but halves the percentage-point increase.