October 18, 2007
Contact: Robin Winchell (202)
225-4031
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) today voted to override the President's veto of the
bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization
Act. While a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives voted in
support of the legislation, they did not have enough votes to override the
veto.
Following the vote, Rep.
Melancon made the following statement:
"For children in Louisiana who depend on
SCHIP to get medical care when they are sick, today's vote was a setback, but
not a defeat," said Rep. Melancon.
"For working families who
struggle to pay the bills and also afford to purchase costly private health
insurance for their children - which costs an average of $12,500 a year for a
family of four -- today's vote was another hurdle, but not a roadblock.
"For taxpaying Americans who
are concerned about the rising cost of providing health care - often in an
expensive emergency room setting - to children without health insurance and
access to preventive care, today's vote was a step back, but not the end of our
search for a solution.
"I am disappointed that our
efforts were blocked today to provide healthcare to the uninsured children of
working families. This bill would have helped almost 200,000 children in Louisiana, and they are
the ones who will suffer the most if we do not act now.
"Despite the misinformation
that has been spread about SCHIP and this bill, the truth is that this legislation
would have pushed states to cover poor children first, and phased out over the
next few years the adults who are in the program. While each state sets
its own guidelines for their SCHIP programs, this bill would have brought us
back to the original purpose of covering uninsured children only.
Furthermore, this bill specifically prohibits SCHIP from enrolling illegal
immigrants.
"Every day, more and more
Louisianians lose their health insurance. This problem is not something
we can continue to ignore. We need a solution to the healthcare crisis in
our country. While SCHIP is not perfect, throwing the baby out with the
bathwater is not the answer. We must find a way to make sure more
children - not less - can see a doctor when they are sick, and I will continue
working in Congress to find ways towards that goal."
Created in 1997, the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provides funding to states to
provide healthcare coverage for children in working families who currently lack
health insurance, often because their parents cannot afford costly private
insurance and their employers do not provide it for them.
Louisiana has one of the most successful SCHIP programs in the
nation. In 1999, according to the Louisiana Department of Insurance, the
percentage of low income, uninsured children in our state was 31.6 percent -
the fourth worst in the country. Today, as a result of the program, that
percentage has dropped to 12.5 percent - one of the nation's 10 best.
The bipartisan CHIP Reauthorization
Act that the President vetoed is a compromise bill drafted by leading
Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate. The bill would reauthorize
SCHIP for the six million children currently enrolled in the program and
provides funding to cover an additional four million uninsured children who are
eligible for but not currently enrolled in SCHIP.
Children in Louisiana would especially benefit from the
CHIP Reauthorization Act. The bill would provide Louisiana
with an additional $60 million, for a total of $144.1 million, to continue
health insurance coverage for the 109,500 children currently enrolled in Louisiana's SCHIP
program and to reach the 82,800 children from low income families with no
health insurance who are not currently enrolled in SCHIP.
The bipartisan CHIP
Reauthorization Act is supported by 43 governors and has been endorsed by more
than 270 organizations, representing millions of Americans - ranging from
groups such as the American Medical Association and America's Health Insurance Plans to
Families USA, the consumer advocacy group.
A fact sheet on the bill is below.
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BIPARTISAN CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE
PROGRAM (CHIP) REAUTHORIZATION
Today, the House considered a motion to concur in House
amendments to Senate amendments to H.R. 976, Children's Health Insurance
Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007. This represents the
bipartisan House-Senate agreement on this legislation. This bill reauthorizes
the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which expires on September 30,
2007, for five years and provides health care coverage for more than 10 million
children. Below are highlights of some of the bill's provisions.
Invests $35 billion in new funding for CHIP. The
bill reauthorizes the Children's Health Insurance Program, investing an
additional $35 billion over five years to strengthen CHIP's financing; increase
health care coverage for low-income, uninsured children; and improve the
quality of health care children receive. As Republican Senator Grassley
has pointed out, "As far as the size of the package, it's important to
understand that about half of the new money is needed just to keep the program
running, and the rest goes to cover more low-income kids."
Ensures health care coverage for more than 10 million
American children. First, the bill ensures that the 6.6 million
children who currently participate in CHIP continue to receive health care
coverage. It also extends coverage to 3.8 million children who are
currently uninsured, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget
Office.
Does not "expand" CHIP; simply provides for enrolling
children who are currently eligible but not yet enrolled. This bill
does nothing to "expand" the CHIP program; it maintains current law regarding
children's eligibility for CHIP. Two-thirds of uninsured children are
currently eligible for coverage through CHIP or Medicaid - but better outreach
and adequate funding are needed to identify and enroll them. This bill
gives states the resources and incentives necessary to reach millions of
uninsured children who are eligible for, but not enrolled in, the program.
Targets lowest-income uninsured children for outreach and
enrollment. The bill is designed to target specifically the
lowest-income uninsured children for outreach and enrollment in CHIP
coverage. The bill does NOT call for CHIP coverage for children in
families at higher income levels. Instead, it reduces federal matching
funds for future coverage of children at higher income levels, and provides
incentives to cover the lowest-income children instead.
Prioritizes children's coverage. The bill
contains provisions to phase out the coverage of parents and childless adults
in CHIP. However, it provides coverage of pregnant women as a new state
option as well as preserving the options to cover pregnant women through a
state waiver or through regulation.
Improves CHIP benefits -- ensuring dental coverage and
mental health parity. Under the bill, quality dental coverage will
now be provided to all children enrolled in CHIP. The bill also ensures
that states will offer mental health services on par with medical and surgical
benefits covered under CHIP.
Provides states incentives to enroll uninsured low-income
children. The bill provides incentives for states to lower the rate
of uninsured children by enrolling eligible children in CHIP and Medicaid,
including providing bonus payments. States will receive state-based
allotments that are responsive to state demographic and national spending
trends. States that face a funding shortfall and meet enrollment goals
will receive an adjustment payment to ensure that no child who is eligible for
Medicaid or CHIP is denied coverage or placed on a waiting list.
Replaces CMS August 17th letter to the states.
On August 17, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter
to the states drastically changing federal policy and placing unrealistic
conditions on the ability of states to cover children above 250 percent of
poverty. This bill replaces that letter. First, the bill states
that it agrees with the President on the importance of ensuring that low-income
children have health coverage and taking steps to address substitution of
private coverage. Secondly, the bill replaces the letter with a more
appropriate approach. In place of the letter, the bill gives states time
and assistance in developing and implementing best practices to address
substitution of coverage. The bill also puts the lowest-income
children first in line by phasing in a new requirement for coverage of
low-income children as a condition of receiving CHIP funding for coverage of
children above 300 percent of poverty.
Improves outreach tools to streamline enrollment of
eligible children. The bill provides $100 million in grants for new
outreach activities to states, local governments, schools, community-based
organizations, safety-net providers and others.
Improves the quality of health care for low-income
children. The bill establishes a new quality child health initiative
to develop and implement quality measures and improve state reporting of
quality data.
Is fully paid for - by raising the tobacco tax by 61
cents a pack. The higher the cost of cigarettes, the less likely kids
will take up smoking. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a
61-cent increase in the tobacco tax means that 1,873,000 fewer children will
take up smoking.
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