House Seal Outline

Washington, Jan 14 -

U.S. Representative John Boozman (R-AR) today voted against the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. H.R. 2 expands the reach of the federal government and doesn’t target the population that the bill is intended to help.

“SCHIP is a program that deserves federal funding, but we cannot rush into voting on this important piece of legislation,” Boozman said. “The current program is funded through March so we have time to write a good, bipartisan bill that doesn’t tax the poor to benefit the rich.”

H.R. 2 increases spending on the program from the $40 billion spent over the previous ten year to a total of $60 billion over just the next four and a half years and enables illegal aliens to fraudulently enroll in Medicaid and SCHIP.

SCHIP is intended to help children who don’t have health insurance. Boozman is concerned the bill focuses on enrolling higher-income kids instead of low-income, uninsured kids. The CBO shows 2.4 million children will shift from private health insurance to government health insurance.

“I am committed to giving this program the attention it deserves, but we have failed to do that. This bill has not gone through normal committee processes. We can find a solution to making sure American children have access to quality, affordable healthcare.”