Today, Representative Ruben J. Kihuen released the following statement calling on Republican leadership to stop playing games with health coverage for millions of Americans and bring up critical legislation on the House Floor to reauthorize funding for community health centers and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP):
"Now that the latest Republican health care repeal effort has failed, Republican leadership must immediately allow a vote to extend critical funding for community health centers and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Community health centers provide critical access to primary and preventative care for over 26 million Americans across the country which is why I cosponsored the Community Health Investment Modernization and Excellence (CHIME) Act of 2017 to ensure that this funding does not lapse. Likewise, CHIP is critical to children's healthy development and success in life and covers 8.9 million American children nationwide. In Nevada, Nevada Check Up covers almost 69,000 children and roughly 34 percent of children in the Fourth Congressional District. Believe it or not, Congress can multitask, and it is time for the political games to stop. We must act now in order to prevent the disruption in health care coverage and services for thousands of Nevada children and millions of American families."