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| Woolsey Votes to Expand Healthcare Access for 11 Million Kids | | January 14, 2009 | |
| Washington, D.C. – Rep. Lynn Woolsey today joined a majority in the House of Representatives in supporting bipartisan legislation to provide health care access to 11 million children. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act will preserve existing coverage for 7 million children, including over 1.5 million in California, whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance. In addition, the program will expand to cover an additional 4 million eligible children. The legislation is very similar to previous CHIP proposals that President Bush vetoed twice in the 110th Congress. President-elect Obama has expressed his support for the bill.
“In 2007, more than eight million children were uninsured, and with the growing recession, this number will only grow,” said Woolsey. “Expanding health care coverage for our most vulnerable populations, including legal immigrant children and some pregnant women, is an obligation we cannot afford to ignore.”
While expanding the number of children covered by CHIP, the legislation also increases the program’s quality of care by ensuring dental coverage and mental health parity. In addition, in a change from previous versions of the legislation, states would be allowed to cover recent legal immigrant children. Under current law, the program only applies to legal immigrant children and pregnant women who have been in the country for at least five years. While supportive of the legislation, Woolsey argued that more work remains to ensure that every child has access to quality care.
“While this bill extends coverage to an additional four million children, over four million other children will still suffer without health care coverage,” said Woolsey. “These numbers are disgraceful. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that our children and their families have access to high quality, affordable healthcare as a basic human right, not as a luxury."
The program is fully paid for through a 61 cent increase in the tobacco tax, which should have the additional benefit of discouraging children from 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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