Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., (R-Southwest Louisiana), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, today introduced an amendment to encourage states to report on access rates for S-CHIP enrollees to ensure the program is providing children with needed care.
“I proudly support S-CHIP, so we must ensure our children are getting the quality healthcare they need,” Boustany said. “S-CHIP, or LaCHIP in Louisiana, offers important healthcare access for children whose parents are working but are unable to afford ever increasing health insurance costs. My amendment simply urges states to report on their success getting children on S-CHIP to see a doctor. Seeing a doctor and developing a doctor-patient relationship allows children to get better care at a cheaper cost rather than simply going to an emergency room.”
Boustany introduced the amendment as a bill, H.R. 6505, in the 110th Congress. According to a July 18, 2008 CQHealthbeat story, “[H.R. 6505] would require states to report how many kids actually receive a primary care visit through SCHIP and how they plan to target enrollment outreach to needy children who do not have private coverage. It also would encourage states to survey parents and report if enrolled children are getting needed care quickly.”
Boustany authored the legislation to provide better healthcare to those children enrolled in S-CHIP. Nationally, the Center for Disease Control found, “children with Medicaid or other public coverage were more likely to have had two or more emergency room visits in the past 12 months (11%) than children with no health insurance (8%) or children with private health insurance (5%).” Thus, children on public coverage like S-CHIP are most likely to visit an emergency room leading to waiting lines and higher costs.
Boustany, a former cardiothoracic surgeon, encouraged LaCHIP throughout Southwest Louisiana at sign-up sessions with Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine.
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