Led by Rep. Marion Berry and Rep. Heather Wilson, 76 Lawmakers Sign Letter to House Budget Committee Urging Sufficient Funding for Children’s Health Coverage
Alexandria, VA – Today, First Focus President Bruce Lesley praised the efforts of Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) for their leadership in creating a bipartisan coalition to ensure sufficient funding for the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is set to expire later this year. Rep. Berry and Rep. Wilson, along with 74 of their colleagues, sent a letter to Budget Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) and Ranking Member Paul Ryan (R-WI) asking them to include sufficient funding in the budget for the reauthorization of the SCHIP program
“SCHIP has been an overwhelming success for America’s children,” Lesley said. “And clearly Congressman Berry and Congresswoman Wilson understand that. This letter sends a strong message that the SCHIP program must be reauthorized with sufficient funding so the program can continue to cover kids currently enrolled and help the 9 million uninsured children in this country. Clearly the president’s budget for SCHIP isn’t sufficient, and this letter sends a strong bipartisan message that Congress must do more to protect the health of our nation’s children.”
Since SCHIP’s creation in 1997, the number of uninsured children in America has fallen by almost a third. Today, SCHIP covers more than four million children.
With 76 signatures – 47 Democrats, 29 Republicans – the Berry/Wilson letter is the largest bipartisan letter in support of SCHIP reauthorization to date. The letter is primarily comprised of moderate members belonging to either the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition or the Republican Main Street Partnership.
”Making sure that our kids are healthy is not a partisan issue,” Lesley said. “Both Democrats and Republicans have a stake in ensuring the health of the next generation of Americans. Providing sufficient funding in the budget is an essential first step if we are to make any progress toward this goal.”
First Focus, along with a large coalition of national children’s health and advocacy organizations, is urging Congress to provide an extra $60 billion over five years in funds for SCHIP reauthorization to cover the cost of maintaining current enrollment and to ensure coverage for all who are eligible but not enrolled in the program, as well as to improve enrollment processes and enhance state coverage options.