ALEXANDRIA, VA – Today, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would provide health coverage millions of American children by strengthening funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The legislation provides $35 billion to reauthorize and improve the program, protecting the health coverage of the six million children currently covered by SCHIP and extending coverage for over three million new eligible but uninsured children.
First Focus President Bruce Lesley made the following remarks:
“First Focus stands in support of this bipartisan compromise, which greatly improves the lives of more than three million additional children currently living without health insurance.
Children’s health is not a Democrat or a Republican issue. It is an American issue that concerns us all. And when SCHIP was created in 1997, it was a recognition that we, as Americans, want to make sure children have access to healthcare. It is a basic requirement in terms of kids’ ability to grow up strong and healthy.
The compromise agreement passed by the House of Representatives will make great gains in covering millions of uninsured children. And we support this bill. But any legislation that provides less than $35 billion for America’s children is not a bill the United States Congress should be proud of. More importantly, it would cause damage to America’s most precious resource, our children.
Nonetheless, President Bush is steadfast in his commitment to make American children the first casualty in his attempt to reassert his relevance in today’s political discourse. The funding for this program represents just one-quarter of one percent of the federal budget. At such a small percentage of the budget, children should hardly be the first place where the Administration begins talking about fiscal responsibility. Also, it is not cost effective to deny children access to the health care they need. Finally, with the most respected economists and health care experts saying that the President’s alternatives to SCHIP does little or is potentially harmful to American children and families, he risks tainting his legacy by sacrificing the health of ten million American children at the hands of ideological politics.
Unfortunately, the President has not heard the pleas of the American public, religious leaders, or his party, as led by conservative Senators such as Orrin Hatch (UH) and Charles Grassley (IA), who stand in strong support of this legislation. A First Focus/Fabrizio McLaughlin & Associates poll conducted this weekend shows that a Republican voters support a $35 billion SCHIP bill by a 2-to-1 margin. In addition, this week First Focus sent the President a letter signed by over 300 national, state, and local organizations throughout the country, stressing the importance of this vital program.
SCHIP gets the important details right by giving kids the kinds of medical care that matter the most: routine doctor check-ups, immunizations, dental visits, eye and hearing care and even some prescription drug coverage. Yes, SCHIP costs money. But routine medicine is preventative medicine, too. In the long run, that keeps kids healthy, and it saves taxpayers millions of dollars.”