Washington, DC – Congressman Al Green (TX-09), today, joined colleague Congressman Gene Green (TX-29) to address the impact of the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act on Texas’ State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  This legislation, which passed the U.S. House today, will reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and ensure millions of children receive the care they need.  The CHAMP Act also has provisions aimed at enrolling more children and keeping them covered.  This bill adds $50 billion in new funds to the SCHIP program to enroll an additional 5 million children who are eligible but currently without coverage.  

Texas has been among the worst states in the nation in terms of insuring low-income children. Many children were forced off the rolls in Texas due to program policies that erected barriers to enrollment and bureaucratic roadblocks to re-enrollment. As a result of these policies, Texas dropped 175,000 children from its SCHIP rolls. While many of these harmful policies were reversed in 2007, Texas still lags far behind other states in covering low-income children. The CHAMP Act includes a separate provision authored by Congressman Gene Green to guarantee low-income children 12 months of continuous eligibility.  Specifically, the bill stipulates that states like Texas with separate SCHIP programs (as opposed to Medicaid expansion programs) provide 12 months of continuous eligibility for enrolled children in families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. 

Congressman Al Green introduced a bill in March, the SCHIP Annual Re-enrollment Act, which would require states receiving federal SCHIP matching funds to have annual re-enrollment. Annual re-enrollment promotes continuity of care by assuring eligible families that coverage will be maintained for a predictable period of time.  Also, annual re-enrollment reduces administrative costs associated with disenrollments, re-enrollments, and re-determinations for the states that currently use a 6-month re-enrollment period. Congressman Gene Green was an original co-sponsor of this bill. 

“We have lost our way in the State of Texas and gone from a state that was once a leader in enrollment to one that has neglected children.  Texas SCHIP enrollment fell from 500,000 in 2003 to 300,000 in 2006, while overall uninsured rates continued to rise. Between 2000 and 2005, Texas has allowed $830 million in federal SCHIP funds to lapse and therefore be sent to other states. Caring for the long-term health of our children is of paramount importance. The health of our children is the health of the future of this great nation,” stated Congressman Al Green.  “Earlier this year I introduced the “Reducing Coverage Gaps for Kids Act.” This stand alone piece of legislation was aimed at mandating a 12-month enrollment period for children in SCHIP.  I am proud that Congressman Gene Green and 27 additional Members of Congress signed on to co-sponsor this bill.  My bill was in response to barriers to enrollment in SCHIP erected in Texas in 2003.  Waiting periods, frequent re-enrollment, and other barriers caused thousands of children in Texas to lose coverage and access to healthcare, in some cases, with deadly consequences. By passing the Champ Act, we are ensuring that a policy requiring children to re-enroll in SCHIP more than 1 time per year will never again be implemented in the State of Texas. I would like to thank my colleague and friend, Gene Green, for his diligent work on the Energy and Commerce Committee and for his efforts to improve access to health care for children in Texas and across the country. By removing the barriers imposed by the frequent re-enrollment we can ensure that all children who need and are eligible for health care are able to receive it.”