Kimmel returned to his late-night talk show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” with his son, Billy.

Billy was recovering from his second heart surgery after being born with a congenital heart defect.

As Kimmel stood there proudly, clearing his throat of emotions admiring his son he continued his opening monologue.

“Children from every income level whose health is especially threatened right now because of something you’ve probably never heard of- it’s called CHIP.”

Louisiana is one of the many states whose funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program will soon run out if Congress doesn’t decide to renew soon.

CHIP provides health insurance for nearly 121,000 children in Louisiana from low income families who earn too much to afford Medicaid.

If the funding is not renewed in time, Louisiana would have to find $176 million dollars to fund the program until June 30th and for the next budget cycle.

Louisiana is already facing a billion-dollar deficit and is in talks of cutting funding for higher education to bridge the gap.

Healthcare and higher education are both in dire need of funding, but one seems to be more prioritized than others among students.

“I would honestly rather them cut funding to higher education and other areas before they cut funding to Medicaid(CHIP),” Kim Mayberry, senior social work major, said.

States are being asked to look internally for extra funds until Congress can make a decision.

Some states like Arizona and Washington have received leftover funds from Congress to temporarily extend the program.

That extension will only give them enough cushion to provide healthcare insurance until December.

Louisiana doesn’t have the extra money to give an extension.

President Donald Trump and his administration has sent out mixed responses on their stance about CHIP.

“CHIP should be part of a long-term solution, not a 30 day, or short term, extension,” President Trump tweeted.

A couple days prior to that tweet, President Trump’s Administration sent out a statement opposite of his tweet.

“The Administration supports the bill’s multiyear funding extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP),” the Office of Management and Budget said.

Jada Hitchens, a senior kinesiology major, said the CHIP program lifted a burden for her and her son.

“Before I joined the army, CHIP paid for my son’s trips to the doctor and it was how we discovered he was asthmatic, “Hitchens said.

CHIP costs about $16 billion every year and supports nine million children in the U.S.

The program was created 20 years ago during the Bill Clinton administration. In its twenty years of service, CHIP has always been a program that Democrats and Republicans have valued.

This is the first time the program has not been prioritized in Congress.

There isn’t a doubt in people’s minds that it won’t be refunded, but there is a fear that it will be too late “if Congress can’t agree upon renewal for a program that benefits thousands of future adults,” Mayberry said.

Free healthcare has always been a sore topic.. Some students feel that CHIP shouldn’t have even been on the chopping block.

“Having a healthy and successful population starts with ensuring our children’s needs are put first,” history major, Tiffany Howington said.

Only certain physicians and clinics accept Medicaid and CHIP which limits the quantity and quality for children under the free health insuance program.

While Congress is discussing the budget for CHIP, the quality of CHIP should also be discussed.

“My daughter’s physician will not give immunizations to patients on Medicaid so they have to go elsewhere for visits, so some aspect of it could be improved,” Howington said.

Time will only tell when the Congress will make a decision, but as for now calling your senators could speed up the process.