Republicans are using the health insurance of 9 million children as leverage to get Democrats to vote for the government shutdown bill

Keith Srakocic/AP

Federal funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired September 30, 2017.

• Republicans proposed a 6-year extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as part of a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown.
• They hope Democrats will support the bill since long-term funding for CHIP is included.
• Democrats and Republicans have been at odds in recent months over how to pay for the vital health program, even though both parties overwhelmingly support it.

House Republicans unveiled a short-term funding plan on Tuesday to keep the government running past the end of this week, and they're hoping it contains enough leverage to get Democrats to sign on to the deal.

At the heart of the proposal is the popular Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides coverage for nearly nine million children and pregnant women across the US.

A CHIP extension has stalled in Congress since federal funding for the program expired September 30. Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly support the program, but they have been at odds over how to pay for it.

The latest continuing resolution includes funding for CHIP for 6 years, but does not include include a codification of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program. This could derail the bill since Democrats have insisted that any funding bill include protections for the roughly 800,000 DACA recipients.

"We want to keep the government open," Rep. Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip, told reporters on Tuesday. "But we're not going to be held hostage to do things that we think are contrary to the best interests of the American people."

Congress gets a lifeline

Brennan Linsley/AP

A girl stands holding a sign alongside supporters of the Affordable Care Act who are also opponents of Colorado's GOP-led plan to undo Colorado's state-run insurance exchange at a rally on the state Capitol steps in Denver on Jan. 31, 2017.

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office granted lawmakers a lifeline after months of deadlock in Congress over long-term funding for CHIP.

In a letter to Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., office director Keith Hall said CHIP reauthorization would save the government $6 billion over a 10-year period.

That was a surprising reversal from an earlier projection. On January 5, the CBO estimated that a similar CHIP extension would actually cost the government $800 million over the next 10 years.

Republicans and Democrats welcomed the news. In a statement, Democratic New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. said a deal on CHIP "should be a no brainer."

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden echoed Pallone's comments. "Big News: extending #CHIP for 10 years would SAVE $6 billion dollars. With this news, securing kids' health care for the long-term should be a no-brainer," he said in a tweet.

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and longtime champion of CHIP, also reveled in the latest CBO projection. A Senate Finance Committee spokesperson told The Hill that Hatch believes "nothing should prevent enactment" of a CHIP reauthorization in light of the latest CBO analysis.

He "will continue to push to get this done to ensure families who rely on CHIP get the care they need," the spokesperson added.