BATON ROUGE - Louisiana has four months remaining of federal money needed to pay for health insurance coverage for low-income children and pregnant women, as Congress allowed financing to expire in September.

  

Louisiana's health department said Wednesday without congressional reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program by February, Louisiana would have to come up with at least $31 million to keep coverage in place - or lessen services.

  

The agency predicts as many as one in six children and pregnant women who otherwise would be eligible for the program in Louisiana could lose their coverage if Congress doesn't act.

  

The U.S. House and Senate each have proposals to continue federal financing for the program, which has broad support. Renewed financing is expected to win approval, but it's unclear how quickly that will happen.