Congress Must Renew The Children's Health And Medicare Protection Act

Statement

As a former school nurse, a mother and a grandmother, I've spent the better part of my life caring for children. My experience as a public health professional, working closely with young people and their parents, had a profound impact on my life and provided me with a unique and valuable perspective on the subject of children's healthcare. While I don't get to spend as much time working directly with children as a member of Congress, the needs of our children are never far from my thoughts.

Congress is in the middle of an effort to ensure that millions of needy children receive access to critical healthcare. To do this we must renew a major piece of healthcare legislation created by Congress in 1997 with broad bipartisan support. This program, known in California as Healthy Families, is an important partnership between the federal and state government to provide healthcare to children whose parents either can't afford insurance or who hold jobs that lack healthcare benefits. Today, thanks to this law, six million children nationally and nearly 1.4 million children in California have healthcare coverage. But the law expires on September 30th and if Congress does not renew the program, these children will no longer have access to quality, affordable healthcare.

I was proud to vote for the Childrens Health and Medical Protection Act (CHAMP), which recently passed the House. Not only does this bill continue covering the six million kids enrolled today, it also covers more than five million kids currently without health insurance. The bill also makes important improvements to Medicare to protect the health of seniors and the disabled. And the whole thing is paid for so we aren't saddling future generations with more debt. The CHAMP Act is critically important for our kids, seniors, and the disabled on the Central and South Coasts and across the country.

In Santa Barbara County about 9,250 children are currently enrolled in the Healthy Families program. But according to the 2005 California Health Interview Survey, another 15,000 children in the county remain uninsured even though they are eligible for this program. Can you imagine a young child lacking regular physicals and immunizations? What about the constant fear facing parents who are working hard yet are unable to secure healthcare coverage for their children? Or how about the families who go bankrupt trying to pay for costly emergency care because they can't afford basic health insurance for their children? What if your child didn't have access to routine physicals to ensure they are growing properly or taking the necessary steps to treat debilitating chronic diseases like diabetes? These difficult questions confront many of our neighbors on the Central Coast. Passing the CHAMP Act will be a significant step forward in the effort to make sure families across our country and in our neighborhoods don't have to face these kinds of questions.

Supporting children's health insurance coverage shouldn't be a partisan matter, and historically it has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. Forty-three of our nation's governors - Republicans and Democrats alike -- have endorsed the reauthorization of the law and expanding its coverage. The same support is found among countless advocacy groups and healthcare organizations like the American Medical Association, AARP, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the Children's Defense Fund. In fact, while running for reelection in 2004, President Bush regularly touted his support for the program.

Unfortunately, the President recently changed his tune, and his Administration and many Republicans in Congress are now vigorously opposing the proposal to sustain and expand health coverage for these children. Incredibly, the President's proposal would actually reduce coverage for the six million children currently covered by CHIP and not help the rest of America's uninsured children at all! This turnabout by the President is really unfortunate.

Providing health insurance for our children is something that we should all be able to agree on. We've already seen how effective this program has been and it's time we extend its benefits to the children of all low and moderate-income families. I'm proud that Congress is moving forward, and I hope the President can put aside partisanship and join us to provide healthcare for America's uninsured children.

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