Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
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Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am proposing a needed adjustment to current eligibility requirements for children who receive health care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
CHAMPVA, established in 1973 within VA, provides health care services to dependents and survivors of certain veterans. CHAMPVA enrollment has grown steadily over the years and, as of fiscal year 2009, covers nearly 336,300 unique beneficiaries. Servicemembers continue to deploy and return home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and CHAMPVA plays a vital role in caring for veterans' loved ones.
Under the current law, a dependent child loses eligibility for CHAMPVA upon turning 18 years old, unless the child is enrolled in school on a full time basis. Also, after losing full-time status at school, or upon turning 23 years old, an eligible child of a veteran would lose eligibility.
With the passage earlier this year of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, many veterans' families have expressed concern regarding their own children's health care coverage. The PPACA contains a provision that extends health insurance coverage to dependent children until age 26. I believe it is only fair to afford children who are CHAMPVA beneficiaries the same eligibility as dependent children whose parents have private sector coverage. Though this Congress is in its final month, we need to open the discussion on this issue now so that, if we must wait until next year to act, we can do so quickly.
My hope in introducing this legislation is to ensure that CHAMPVA recipients, without regard to their type of coverage, student status, or other limitation, are eligible for health care coverage under their parent's plan in the same way as their peers. I urge my colleagues to support this necessary modification.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record,
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