A Christmas to remember? Could 400,000 children lose health coverage?

More than 400,000 Texas kids might lose their health coverage right before Christmas, according to The Dallas Morning News in a report yesterday. The state needs $90 million more in federal funding or else it will cut off the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) on January 31, and will send notices about the program’s end to families on December 22.

CHIP covers more than 400,000 children of the working poor. Congress has been unwilling to reauthorize the program, which has enough money to last through January. The state Health and Human Services Commission asked the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for $90 million, which would allow CHIP to keep running in Texas through February. The federal agency has until December 9 to agree to the request.

If an agreement is not made, the commission would have to start making preparations to end the program in January and refer families to the Affordable Care Act’s online health insurance marketplace.

You can read the full story here.