Community Health And Medical Professionals Improve Our Nation Act of 2017

Continuing Community Health And Medical Professional Programs to Improve Our Nation, Increase National Gains, and Help Ensure Access for Little Ones, Toddlers, and Hopeful Youth by Keeping Insurance Delivery Stable Act of 2017 or the CHAMPIONING HEALTHY KIDS Act

DIVISION A--CHAMPION ACT

Community Health And Medical Professionals Improve Our Nation Act of 2017 or the Champion Act

TITLE I--EXTENSION OF PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS

(Sec. 101) This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to extend funding through FY2019 for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps. Health centers that serve medically underserved populations may receive supplemental grant funds to increase access to primary care services. In awarding health center operating grants, special consideration may be given to a new center that is located in a sparely populated area or in an area that has a higher level of unmet need. Loan guarantees are no longer made to assist health centers to plan and develop a managed care network or to plan and develop practice management networks. The bill provides funds for FY2018 to support the participation of health centers in the All of Us Research Program in the National Institutes of Health's Precision Medicine Initiative.

The bill increases and extends funding through FY2019 for teaching health centers that sponsor graduate medical residency training programs. Priority is given to teaching health centers that serve health professional shortage areas, serve medically underserved communities, or are in rural areas.

The Department of Health and Human Services must report on expenses associated with graduate medical residency training programs.

(Sec. 102) The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to extend funding through FY2019 for type I diabetes research and the prevention and treatment of diabetes in Native Americans.

(Sec. 103) The bill amends the Social Security Act to increase and extend funding through FY2019 for family-to-family health information centers, which assist families of children with disabilities or special health needs.

(Sec. 104) The bill creates, and makes appropriations in FY2018 and FY2019 for, the Youth Empowerment Program. The program shall fund allotments to states or other entities to implement education exclusively about sexual risk avoidance (voluntarily refraining from sexual activity). Up to 20% of an allotment may be used to build evidence for sexual risk avoidance education.

The bill extends funding for the grant program for personal responsibility education through FY2019.

TITLE II--OFFSETS

(Sec. 201) The bill revises the grace period that health insurers must provide to recipients of premium subsidies before discontinuing health coverage for nonpayment of premiums. The grace period is shortened from three months to one month unless state law includes an applicable grace period.

The Government Accountability Office must report about the effects on consumers of aligning grace periods for Medicaid, Medicare, and plans offered on health insurance exchanges, including whether such an alignment may reduce fraud, waste, and abuse under Medicaid.

(Sec. 202) The bill reduces appropriations for the Prevention and Public Health Fund through FY2025 and continues funding through FY2027.

DIVISION B--HEALTHY KIDS ACT

Helping Ensure Access for Little Ones, Toddlers, and Hopeful Youth by Keeping Insurance Delivery Stable Act of 2017 or the HEALTHY KIDS Act

TITLE I--CHIP EXTENSION AND OTHER MEDICAID AND CHIP PROVISIONS

(Sec. 301) The bill extends funding through FY2022 for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

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.

(Sec. 302) The bill extends funding through FY2022 for the Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project and the Pediatric Quality Measures Program.

(Sec. 303) The bill: (1) extends funding through FY2022 for specified outreach and enrollment grants, and (2) makes eligible for such grants "parent-mentors" who are trained to assist families with children who have no health-insurance coverage.

(Sec. 304) 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.

(Sec. 305) The bill eliminates Medicaid payment reductions for disproportionate-share hospitals (which receive additional payment under Medicaid for treating a large share of low-income patients) in FY2018 and FY2019, but increases such reductions from FY2021-FY2025.

(Sec. 306) The bill also increases Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands through FY2019. Such funding shall be further increased through 2019 for both territories if Puerto Rico takes specified actions to improve its Medicaid program.

TITLE II--OFFSETS

(Sec. 401) The bill alters provisions related to third-party liability under Medicaid and CHIP.

(Sec. 402) The bill specifies how a state must treat qualified lottery winnings and lump-sum income for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility.

(Sec. 403) The bill eliminates Medicare premium subsidies for beneficiaries with annual incomes exceeding $500,000.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov