Obama Calls for the Expansion of Children’s Health Insurance
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ben LaBolt
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today spoke on the Senate floor to call for the expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). As more Americans lose their health insurance everyday, CHIP has provided 6 million uninsured children with the health care they need, and encouraged states like Illinois to build on its success and expand health coverage even further. The reauthorization bill before the Senate would expand coverage to reach an additional 3.2 million children.
Obama’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
“As I’ve traveled across this country over the last few years, there are fewer issues that show a greater disconnect between what the American people want and the way Washington works than health care.”
“Every year people put it at the very top of their list of concerns. Every year more people lose their insurance, or watch their premiums skyrocket, or open up medical bills that they just can’t pay.”
“And yet, whenever the issue actually comes up in Washington, they watch health care debates play out that are filled with half-truths and scare tactics. They see insurance companies run ads telling folks they’ll lose their doctor or wait forever if universal health care is passed.”
“They watch the industry spend billions on lobbyists who use undue influence to block much-needed reform. And at the end of the day, nothing gets done, and we move on to fight about something else.”
“To most Americans, we seem completely disconnected from the reality that they’re living every day. Especially when we have a President who actually said, ‘I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.’”
“That’s what passes for universal health care in the greatest, wealthiest country on Earth – overcrowded, understaffed Emergency Rooms that raise everyone’s premiums and cost taxpayers more money.”
“It’s shameful. And what’s even more shameful is that nine million of the Americans who are forced to wait in Emergency Rooms when they get sick – who have no health insurance at all – are children.”
“Children who did not choose where they were born or how much money their parents have. Children whose development depends on the care and nourishment they receive in those early years. Children who any parent, anywhere, should want to protect at any cost.”
“Now, we can shade the truth and pretend there are only one million uninsured like the President says. We can make excuses for this neglect or we can just ignore it altogether, but as long as there are nine million children in the United States of America with no health insurance, it is a betrayal of the ideals we hold as Americans.”
“It’s not who we are, and today is our chance to prove it.”
“We know that CHIP works. Because of CHIP, 6 million children who’d otherwise be uninsured have health care today. Because of CHIP, millions of children are protected when their parents lose their health care.”
“Because of CHIP, individual states like my home state of Illinois are building on its success to expand health coverage even further. And because of CHIP, millions of children with asthma, traumatic injuries, and mental health conditions, are able to see a doctor and get the treatment they need.”
“Even though the uninsured rate among low-income children fell by more than one-third in the years after CHIP was enacted, the trend reversed two years ago. And since then, we’ve seen growing numbers of uninsured children.”
“Uninsured children are twice as likely as insured children to miss out on needed medical care, including doctor visits and checkups.”
“One quarter of uninsured children don’t get any medical care at all. And those who do, get lower quality care. Even with the same illnesses and conditions, whether it’s an ear infection or appendicitis, studies have found that uninsured children get different treatment, and often suffer more as a result. One study even found that uninsured children who are admitted to a hospital with injuries are twice as likely to die there as children who do have insurance.”
“And to put this problem in the larger context, we know that when a child gets sick and can’t get treated – or receives inadequate treatment – he misses more days of school. And when he misses more school days, he begins to do worse relative to his peers. And that can have long-term consequences on his chances in life. That’s not something I’d want for either of my two young daughters or for any other American child.”
“So let’s get serious and solve this problem. Let’s reauthorize CHIP. Let’s make sure that the 6 million children who are now covered through the program continue to be covered – and let’s extend coverage to an additional 3.2 million uninsured children.”
“But we also know that the question of children’s health care is tied to the larger question of universal care in this country. Because we know that when we cover parents, we also cover children. And that’s something we’ve seen in Illinois. When I was a State Senator, I was able to help extend health care coverage to an additional 150,000 parents and their children. So if we’re serious about covering every child, we have to cover every parent as well.”
“The American people have been waiting for us to act on health care for far too long. And starting by covering more children should not be a difficult issue to agree on.”