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Washington, DC—Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) joined his colleagues in passing H.R. 2, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization to ensure that 11 million children have access to health coverage—including mandatory dental coverage proposed by Congressman Cummings. The bill passed by a vote of 289-139.
“Our nation’s children were in serious condition when President Bush vetoed the SCHIP reauthorization in 2007, and they are in critical condition now,” Congressman Cummings said. “These children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see, and it is more important than ever that we provide every single child with access to quality care.”
The bill, which reauthorizes the program responsible for providing health coverage to children whose parents earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance plans, would preserve coverage for the 7 million children currently covered by SCHIP and extend coverage to an additional 4 million children who are currently eligible for SCHIP and Medicaid but not yet enrolled.
Several key provisions to improve the SCHIP program were included in the bill, including mandatory dental benefits and other important measures proposed by Congressman Cummings to increase children’s access to dental care. The importance of these measures was underscored by Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old Maryland boy who died when an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain. Although a simple $80 procedure could have saved Deamonte, his mother was unable to get him treatment.
“Although we will never be able to bring back Deamonte Driver, we can continue to take these monumental steps to ensure that we bring life from this young man’s death,” Congressman Cummings said. “While we still have a struggle ahead of us to fully address our nation’s health care crisis, we can come together today to celebrate a substantial victory in the passage of H.R. 2.”
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