| House Approves Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act
Health Care Coverage for the Greatest Generation and the Next Generation
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
 Printable Format
WASHINGTON, DC—House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today lauded passage of HR 3162, the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP Act). This bill reauthorizes the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which expires on September 30, and includes several provisions to protect and improve Medicare.
“Democrats believe we have an unequivocal moral responsibility to provide for the health and well-being of our children and our elders. As a grandfather whose grandson was born 90 days premature and received top-notch healthcare coverage as he struggled to survive his first days on Earth, I believe all of America’s children should have access to the same coverage. I am proud of the work of this body today. The Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act will provide vital healthcare coverage for the greatest generation and the next generation.
“There’s an old judicial axiom that says ‘justice delayed is justice denied.’ The same is true for healthcare. There is no better example of that principle, than the story of Devante Johnson from Houston Texas. Thirteen-year-old Devante Johnson had advanced kidney cancer. Last year, Devante spent four desperate months uninsured while his mother tried to renew his Medicaid coverage.
“For years, Devante and his two younger brothers were covered by Medicaid. Texas families who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP are required to renew their coverage every six months and Devante's mother, Tomica, had tried to get a head start by sending in their paperwork two months before her family’s Medicaid coverage was set to expire. The application sat for six weeks before it was processed and then transferred to CHIP because an employee believed the family was no longer eligible for Medicaid. Somewhere along this circuitous path, their paperwork got lost in the system.
“For four months Devante was without health insurance, as state employees attempted to reinstate his coverage. During this period, he could no longer receive regular treatment and had to rely solely on clinical trials for care. It wasn’t until a state legislator intervened that Devante’s coverage was reinstated. But it was too late. Devante died on March 1, 2007. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., ‘There's nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscious stupidity.’
Today’s legislation will dramatically reduce, if not eliminate entirely, the chances that any child, eligible for coverage under this program will suffer the same fate as Devante Johnson.
|
