ALEXANDRIA, VA – Today, First Focus President Bruce Lesley issued the following statement in reaction to reports of an agreement between the House of Representatives and the Senate on the renewal of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Lesley expressed concern that as a result of this deal, the parameters of negotiation with the White House will be shaped by the Administration’s $5 billion proposal and Congress’ $35 billion plan, instead of $50 and $5 billion, leaving no room for negotiation:
“The House or Representatives had made great efforts to provide $50 billion to reduce the number of American children living without health insurance by 5 million. Unfortunately, in the shadow of a presidential veto threat, the Congress has moved toward $35 billion, which is less than 10% of the $400 billion prescription drug plan that Congress and the President provided for senior citizens just four years ago.
Such a deal leaves no room for negotiation with the White House. With the Congress at $35 billion and the President proposing $5 billion – $10 billion less than what is needed to cover currently enrolled children – the boundaries of the negotiation are such that funding will not be sufficient to make much progress on reducing the number of uninsured children.
The American public wants action to ensure that every child has access to health insurance. There should be no excuses.
We stand in support of this legislation but children’s advocates all firmly felt that the $50 billion in funding committed by Congress in the budget resolution was needed to reduce the number of uninsured children by half. This organization is not pleased with the loss of $15 billion, but anything less than $35 billion would truly shortchange our nation’s children.”