Millions of children could soon lose their health insurance if Congress doesn’t act

For all the handwringing about what the new Republican-controlled Congress could to do Obamacare, another health insurance program could be dropped entirely if lawmakers don't take action this year: the Children's Health Insurance Program.

The program covers an estimated 8 million children in low- and middle-income families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Funding is set to expire in September, and it's not clear yet if the new Congress will extend CHIP or scale it back. Those who get dropped will probably have to go on to the new health insurance exchanges for coverage, but one estimate found as many as 2.7 million children could still lose health insurance if CHIP goes away this year.

There's one state that's already gotten rid of CHIP, though: Arizona. And the state's experience offers some ominous lessons for what can happen to families if they lose assistance, according to Georgetown University researchers in new reports.