Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., (R-Southwest Louisiana), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, today urged his colleagues to vote against a massive State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) expansion expected tomorrow.

“I proudly support S-CHIP, so we must ensure our children are getting the quality healthcare they need,” Boustany said.  “A massive increase of S-CHIP further neglects those children who already slipped through the cracks.  These children need to see a doctor to receive care.  Seeing a doctor and developing a doctor-patient relationship allows children to get better care at a cheaper cost rather than simply going to an emergency room.”

Boustany introduced legislation last week to provide better healthcare to those children enrolled in S-CHIP.  Nationally, the Center for Disease Control found, “children with Medicaid or other public coverage were more likely to have had two or more emergency room visits in the past 12 months (11%) than children with no health insurance (8%) or children with private health insurance (5%).”  Thus, children on public coverage like S-CHIP are most likely to visit an emergency room leading to waiting lines and higher costs.

Boustany, a former cardiothoracic surgeon, encouraged LaCHIP throughout Southwest Louisiana at sign-up sessions with Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine.

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