WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Capitol Hill, one local West Virginia senator is working to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program -- otherwise known as CHIP.
CHIP provides low-cost health coverage to children in families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito says she helped implement the program when she was in West Virginia's State Legislature and continues to be an avid supporter of the program.
She says a healthier child makes for a healthy adult and an overall better worker.
"While it appears in the state that the number has gone down, it really only means that the children that are leaving the CHIP program have probably in all likelihood gone to the new availability of Medicaid for their family," said Senator Shelley Moore Capito.
This is a bipartisan effort where senators are trying to reauthorize the program for the next five years.