Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - September 21, 2006)
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By Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BINGAMAN, and Ms. MIKULSKI):
S. 3924. A bill to amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to allow qualifying States to use all or any portion of their allotments under the State Children's Health Insurance Program for certain Medicaid expenditures; to the Committee on Finance.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Children's Health Protection and Eligibility Act of 2006. I am delighted to have Senator MURRAY, BINGAMAN, and MIKULSKI introduce this bill with me today.
As health insurance costs continue to rise and the number of employers that offer health coverage to their employees decline, our safety net programs are all the more critical, especially for the health of our children. It is more important than ever to sustain existing health care coverage for our children--and, in fact, to expand it. It's the best way to reduce costs and improve access. It's about keeping children healthy.
New Census data released last month showed that the number of uninsured has grown from 41.2 million in 2001 to 46.6 million in 2005. These are largely working families--the number of fulltime workers without any insurance increased to 17.7 percent in 2005 from 16.8 percent in 2002.
In Washington, our Medicaid program is currently providing coverage for more than 500,000 children. Our State Children's Health Insurance Program is providing coverage to another 11,000 children. But 100,000 of our kids in Washington State remain uninsured even though they are eligible for one of the public programs.
One barrier to expanding kids' access to health care in Washington is the funding rules that were put into place when SCHIP was enacted in 1997. In short, our state has been punished for its early innovation for doing the right thing.
When SCHIP was enacted at the Federal level in 1997, Washington was one of only four States already providing health coverage for children at the level Federal lawmakers wanted SCHIP to reach. Under the original Federal rules, Washington was not allowed to use new funds to pay for children who were covered prior to SCHIP's implementation.
As a result, we have been penalized and prevented from fully using our share of the funding. That is why in 2002 I worked to ensure a temporary fix to the funding inequity and I have been fighting to make this fix permanent ever since. And as a result of these temporary fixes, Washington has been able to extend coverage to an additional 60,000 children and reinvest $47.3 million in children's health safety net programs.
Despite this success, the State has still been forced to return over percent of its share of Federal funding. Over the first decade of the SCHIP program, Washington is expected to return $191 million in Federal funds.
Let me say that again: we're returning millions of dollars to the Federal Government and we still have 100,000 uninsured children in our State--the majority of whom are eligible for these public programs.
It's unacceptable and it runs contrary to the central goal of the SCHIP program. We need a permanent solution once and for all so that Washington and the other States that expanded eligibility in their Medicaid programs before the enactment of SCHIP in 1997 are no longer penalized for their early innovation and their commitment to the health of children.
This is why we are introducing the Children's Health Protection and Eligibility Act of 2006.
This legislation will give states the ability to use SCHIP funds more efficiently to prevent the loss of health care coverage for children. States that have made a commitment to insuring children could use their entire SCHIP funds allotment to maintain access to health care coverage for all low-income children in the state. The bill also ensures that all of the qualifying States that have demonstrated a commitment to providing health care coverage to children can access SCHIP funds in the same manner to support children's health care coverage. Finally, this bill allows States that have expanded coverage to the highest eligibility levels allowed under SCHIP, and meet certain requirements, to receive the enhanced SCHIP match rate for any kids that had previously been covered above the mandatory level.
The requirements are best practices that have been tested and proven all across our Nation: a simplified application process, twelve-month continuous eligibility and easy access to enrollment staff are just a few of the examples of actions that we have taken in Washington that are proven to work. They result in more children having coverage and accessing appropriate care. Many of our States are working to make the program easier for children and families to navigate and now Congress needs to make it easier for all States to access their SCHIP allotment in order to expand and improve coverage to our youngest citizens.
Children are the leaders of tomorrow; they are the very future of our great Nation. We owe them nothing less than the sum of our energies, our talents, and our efforts in providing them a foundation on which to build happy, healthy and productive lives. With the rising number of uninsured and the ever-increasing healthcare costs, it is more important than ever to maintain existing health care coverage for children in order to hold down health care costs and to keep children healthy. Removing barriers for innovative states and allowing them to fully access their SCHIP allocation is a major step in achieving this goal. I urge my colleagues to join us in support of this bill and 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, as follows:
S. 3924
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