|
|
|
|
Hoekstra Votes to Sustain Health Care Program for Disadvantaged Children
Congressman Votes against Bill that Increases Taxes and Government Spending on SCHIP without Focusing on Primary Objective of Providing Health Care to Poor Children
Washington,
Jan 14 -
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, today voted to sustain the primary goal of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a health care safety net plan designed for children in low-income families, but opposed a bill that would overextend its reach to more adults and even illegal immigrants.
“I fully support SCHIP as a means of providing affordable health coverage to children in low-income families,” said Hoekstra, who voted to create the program in 1997. “They should remain first in line as opposed to swiftly, and with no input, reprioritizing the program so that fewer disadvantaged children are able to receive benefits.”
The current program is authorized through March 31, 2009, yet a bill to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was rushed before Congress on Wednesday with no hearings and no amendments allowed for consideration.
Hoekstra voted for a bill that would have extended the current program for seven years. He voted against a subsequent bill that in addition to the manner in which it bypassed the legislative process, would have resulted in a massive increase in taxes and government spending without ensuring that SCHIP remains committed to its primary goal of providing health care to children in low-income families.
The $73.3 billion expansion of the program would be partially funded by a 61-cent tax increase per pack of cigarettes, and unless 22.4 million new Americans take up smoking by 2017, millions of disadvantaged children will lose their health insurance or taxes will need to be increased by tens of billions of dollars.
The expansion also severely weakens proof of U.S. citizenship requirements and fails to protect against an estimated 2.4 million children who will shift from private insurance programs to government-run insurance.
“There is no need to rush massive tax increases and government spending through a Congress that is less than two weeks old,” Hoekstra said. “We should slow down, work through the normal legislative process and work together instead of quickly passing a bill that could negatively impact poor children.”
|
Print version of this document
|
