At the request of Governor George Pataki and in cooperation with GNYHA, NY's Congressional Delegation has joined in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding the reallocation of unspent Federal funding for child health insurance. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) allowed states three years to spend their annual allotments for health insurance for children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and required that any unspent funds be redistributed from the states that have not spent their entire allotments to states that have spent their entire amounts. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that as much as $1.9 billion may be available for reallocation at the beginning of Federal fiscal year 2001. Numerous proposals have been introduced by members of Congress to change the BBA requirements for redistributing unspent funds and thereby possibly rendering the funds unavailable to NY and other states that have spent their share during the originally agreed-upon three-year time period. The letter from the NY Congressional Delegation highlights a number of points for HHS to consider:

• NY is the only state that has begun to draw down its FY 2000 allotment;

• NY is significantly exceeding its 35% match required under Title XXI, expecting to spend $348 million in State funds and $409 million in Federal funds. Without additional Federal assistance, NY will spend $541 million in Federal fiscal year 2001, while the Federal contribution will be only $366 million;

• States like NY that already had child health insurance programs in place prior to Federal legislation were disadvantaged by the original allocation formula. This approach hurt NY because, in effect, NY's success in insuring children through the Child Health Plus program resulted in less Federal funding than would otherwise have been provided;

• NY's aggressive outreach has achieved rapid program growth. One out of every four children enrolled under SCHIP nationally is enrolled in NY's Child Health Plus program, and currently, NY enrolls more than 10,000 children every month in the program.

GNYHA greatly appreciates the involvement and support of Governor Pataki and the NY Congressional Delegation on this issue so that all SCHIP funds may be used for the purpose of insuring as many children as possible in NYS and nationwide.