Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL-13th) today moved to offer an amendment to the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that would make states place top priority on enrolling the lowest income children before they expand their programs to other populations. She plans to offer the amendment during a Tuesday evening session of the House Rules Committee, which will decide whether the amendment can be voted on by the full House during Wednesday’s debate.
“Congress created this program to care for America’s most vulnerable children,” said Biggert. “Unfortunately, in many states, the funds have been diverted away from poor kids and used for plans like Governor Blagojevich’s to cover higher-income individuals, those already insured privately, and adults. My amendment simply says that states need to work aggressively toward insuring America’s poorest children before they can use federal SCHIP funds for other, higher-income populations.”
The Biggert amendment would add a small but important section requiring that states collect and report accurate data on their success in using SCHIP funds to cover low-income kids. It also requires all states to draft and implement a plan for how they will conduct outreach and work toward insuring all eligible low-income children. Finally, it would prohibit states from using SCHIP funds to provide coverage to new, higher-income populations until fewer than 10% of children in families under 200% of the federal poverty level remain uninsured.
“No child would lose their coverage, and states like ours would be asked to meet the same standards already being easily met in places like Massachusetts, West Virginia and even Washington, DC." said Biggert. “There are 5.4 million uninsured, poor children that aren’t receiving the care they deserve. My amendment would improve the bill to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used first and foremost to get healthcare to those children that need it most.”
In the event the Rules Committee refuses to allow her amendment to be considered by the full House, Biggert will introduce a stand-alone bill that would amend the SCHIP program in the same fashion. The bill, called the SCHIP Expansion for Kids in Need Act, has already garnered cosponsors in the House.
“President-elect Obama has said that he wants to include more input and good ideas from those across the aisle,” said Biggert. “I hope Rules Committee Democrats feel the same way, because covering poor children first is a great place to start. With my simple amendment, the bill would certainly pass with strong, bipartisan support.”
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