I mean, Montana is one state that is now facing this, but many other states are expected to run out of CHIP funds relatively quickly, so I think the hope is Congress will take this up quick.

"We would certainly hope and expect Congress to continue funding for this program", said Erin Barham, a spokesperson for Mississippi's Division of Medicaid.

The program crafted under a 1997 law proceeded with bipartisan assistance in the time of commanding of President Bill Clinton, offered consideration for children in families with meager and decent income as well as to pregnant women. She noted that from 2015 to 2016, the rate of uninsured children in Arizona dropped by 11 percent - the fourth largest drop in the nation. Gherlein ended up taking her to the emergency room and Beatrice was ultimately fine, but it was critical for the family to be able to access care when they needed it without worrying about putting themselves into financial hardship.

Even if congressional committees can agree, it is not clear how soon legislation will emerge from Congress.

The House measure includes an additional $1 billion for Puerto Rico's Medicaid program.

The media is paying attention, even if the Congress is not.

The Children's Health Insurance Program, which was created in 1997 and passed with bipartisan support, provides cheap health insurance to low income children whose income levels make them ineligible for Medicaid.

Action in the Senate was delayed for several weeks as Republicans made repeated unsuccessful attempts, in July and September, to pass legislation that would have repealed much of the Affordable Care Act.

"Inaction by Congress so far has created a real threat to the stability of the infrastructure of health services for millions of Texans", Garcia said.

She said that while there is such agreement on the overall goal of continuing to fund CHIP, there may not be such cross-party agreement on the some of the ways to pay for that funding as detailed in the House bill.

"In Mississippi, community health centers play an important role in delivering health care and support services to underserved and uninsured patients", Wicker said.

Though current authorization for spending has expired, states can use some of their unspent federal CHIP money.

That means as many as 9 million children could steadily lose their health insurance coverage in the upcoming months - and the longer Congress delays, the worse the situation will get. The feds cover most of the costs-99.8 percent, to be exact-and without that funding, more than $467 million a year is at risk. State officials said Tuesday that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was giving Minnesota $3.6 million from unspent national funds to cover CHIP this month.

"We believe congress will come through, but the fact they would let the deadline expire is a concern", said Carnes. Because they care more about themselves than our children, and our country's future. One of them is U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans of Philadelphia. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, at a U.S. House Rules Committee hearing, he aimed to assuage their concerns. "Without that access to have health insurance for kids, kids will find it harder to get that access they need." said Carlson. "We're going to have to do something".