BAUCUS TO LEGISLATURE: HELP EXPAND CHIP PROGRAM

Senator Wants To Work Together To Insure More Montana Kids

February 21, 2007

(HELENA, Mont.) - Montana Senator Max Baucus wants to make a deal with the state legislature to provide more Montana children with health insurance.

Striking a theme of working together and cooperation, Baucus on Wednesday challenged the Montana Legislature to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, saying he'll use his powerful committee chairmanship in Washington to expand the program nationally.

"I'll provide dollars in Washington, if you expand CHIP here at home," Baucus told both the House and Senate. "Call it a 'fair deal.' Call it a 'square deal.' Call it whatever you like. But let's expand CHIP so Montana parents don't have to lay awake at night worrying about their kids."

Baucus helped craft CHIP in 1997 and then lobbied state officials to sign on to the program. Without Congressional action, the program will expire on September 30 of this year.

Baucus is the chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over many of the nation's health care programs, including CHIP. He said renewing and expanding the CHIP program is his top health care priority for the committee this year, "it's Number 1."

CHIP is the federal and state matching program that currently provides health insurance to more than 13,000 Montana kids from families of modest means.

The Legislature is considering raising the eligibility level for CHIP, a move that would enable even more Montana families to enroll in the program.

Baucus, speaking to a joint session of the 60th Montana Legislative Assembly, called creating CHIP one of the most significant accomplishments of his career and said CHIP has become the "most successful children's health program in history."

He said more than 40,000 Montana kids have been helped by CHIP since it was first enacted.

"Why is CHIP so important?" Baucus asked. "Think for a minute about people who can barely afford to heat their homes or feed their kids - let alone pay for health care. That's what CHIP does for them. It makes sure their kids - at least their kids - get coverage."

Baucus applauded state officials and legislators for pushing to insure more Montanans, noting strides have been made, but said Montana still has more than 37,000 kids without health insurance.

"That means 37,000 Montana families are teetering on the edge," Baucus said. "One bike accident, a fall down the stairs, an injury on the basketball court could drive them into bankruptcy. Or worse. That's just wrong."

Throughout his speech, Baucus, who served in the State House as a Representative from Missoula in 1973, stressed the importance of setting aside partisan differences and working together.

"It was in this chamber that I learned the value of working together," Baucus said. "It was here where I learned that partisanship doesn't serve the noble purpose of legislating. I learned that digging in your heels and fighting with each other doesn't help make Montanans' lives any better. Remember, nothing of consequence ever happens unless people work together. A partisan victory never lasts...a compromise is more durable."

Baucus is Montana's senior U.S. Senator, first elected to the Senate in 1978, after serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Finance Committee, Baucus is also a senior member of the Senate's Agriculture Committee and a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over highway construction spending.

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