Letter: Keep CHIP extension in the limelight
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune
Lieutenant Colonel Forrest 'Chip' Cook, Professor of Military Science-Army ROTC at Brigham Young University and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, talk during a Memorial Day Service at Larkin Sunset Gardens Cemetery in Sandy Monday, May 29, 2017.
As a future pediatrician and proud Utahn, I am appalled at both the failure to extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program — leaving many children in Utah without sufficient health care in the next few months — and the new proposed plan to extend CHIP by cutting other vital health care programs.
I urge Sen. Orrin Hatch and our other legislators to keep championing the extension of CHIP, but through clean funding that prioritizes health. Funding CHIP is essential, but cutting programs such as the ACA’s prevention and public health program is not the way to do it.
I also urge The Tribune to keep CHIP extension in the limelight, as national news outlets seem to be sweeping it under the rug, and I know The Tribune can do better.
Hanna Saltzman, Salt Lake City
sltrib.com is now free to access — no subscription required. We made this decision because we believe access to trustworthy, independent news shouldn’t depend on what you can afford — especially as misinformation and AI-generated content continue to rise.
Free to read doesn’t mean free to produce. Our reporters show up every day to ask hard questions and hold powerful institutions to account. That work takes resources. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on support from people who believe it matters. Make a donation today to fund local news that serves Utah communities.
You can help us bring more local news to more communities today.