Washington, D.C. - Congressman Ron Klein (FL-22) today joined a bipartisan majority of his House colleagues to support critical legislation to provide health care for 11 million children across the country. The bill, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization (H.R. 2), preserves health care coverage for seven million children currently covered and extends coverage to four million more kids nationwide.

“This bill can’t become law fast enough for the millions of children without basic healthcare coverage and for the low-income families struggling to make ends meet,” Klein said after the vote. “In these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever to make sure our kids have access to affordable, quality health care.”

In Florida, CHIP is administered through the Healthy Kids program. During Klein’s tenure in the Florida State Senate, he helped oversee its implementation and praised the bipartisan program as an innovative way to provide health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of low income children in Florida.

“This is a common-sense program supported by Republicans and Democrats, as well as business leaders and the vast majority of the American people,” Klein said. “Covering more eligible kids is not only the right thing to do, it is also more cost-effective for taxpayers than relying on emergency rooms to treat sick children. We owe it to our kids to ensure they are healthy and prepared for learning and success.”