Congressman Rick Larsen's Online Office

September 25, 2007

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. House has passed legislation that would preserve health care coverage for millions of children currently insured by the Children’s Health Insurance Program and extend coverage to millions more who are currently uninsured – including over 50,000 children in Washington state.  U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted for the legislation, called the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 976), which passed the House tonight by a vote of 265 to 159. The Senate is expected to consider the bill later this week.

“Tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to deliver health care to over 50,000 more children in Washington state and over 3.8 million more children across the country,” said Larsen. “We have seen a lot of political posturing from the White House on this issue, but it comes down to a simple choice: do we want kids to have health care, or don’t we?  I know where I stand. Unfortunately, President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation and deny health insurance to millions of low-income children who need it.”

This bill reauthorizes the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years and preserves coverage for all 6.6 million children currently covered by CHIP, including over 15,000 children in Washington state. The bill also extends health care coverage to 3.8 million low-income children who are currently uninsured, including over 50,000 children in Washington state.

As Congress worked toward reauthorizing CHIP this year, Larsen joined Washington state Democrats in both Houses of Congress to demand a children’s health care funding fix for Washington state. Washington and 10 other states have been penalized for expanding health insurance coverage to children in families with incomes just over the poverty line before the State Children’s Insurance Plan (SCHIP) became law in 1997.  Since that federal legislation was enacted, Washington state has been unable to spend its full federal CHIP allotment to cover children just over the poverty line.  States that didn’t cover these children a decade ago have had no such limitation on the use of federal CHIP funds.  The bill passed by the House tonight provides a fair, permanent solution for this inequity.

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