Congressman Johnson Fights to Save Georgia's Peachcare

CONGRESSMAN JOHNSON FIGHTS TO SAVE GEORGIA'S PEACHCARE

Speaking on the House floor last week, Congressman Hank Johnson delivered a passionate appeal to support funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), which includes Georgia's PeachCare in the 2008 budget.

Johnson said a minimum of $60 billion over five years must be included in the fiscal year 2008 budget for S-CHIP. Effective March 11, 2007, Georgia's Department of Community Health will stop accepting new enrollees in PeachCare due to the funding crisis.

"The budget that the President introduced calls for a reauthorization of the S-CHIP program at its current funding levels and this is entirely insufficient for the program's needs. As a result, hundreds of thousands of children stand to lose this health care coverage they have grown to rely on. Yet, the President proposes to spend $285 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Johnson, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

In letters to Georgia Appropriations chairmen Rep. Ben Harbin and Sen. Jack Hill, Johnson said, " I share your sense of immediacy about this issue and am working diligently with other members of the Georgia delegation to achieve an expedient solution." Johnson said that in S-CHIP's 10-year history, the program has significantly improved children's access to health care and has made great strides in covering racial and ethnic minority children who would otherwise be uninsured. It is estimated that 9 million children nationwide are still uninsured.

"Federal funding has failed to keep up with the program's expanding enrollment. And inefficient allocation of these funds means some states are sitting on more than $1 billion of S-CHIP funding, while 14 states, including my own state of Georgia, face shortfalls on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars," explained Johnson.

"This inadequate funding has forced some states to consider stopping all S-CHIP medical services. Without help from Congress, Georgia will be unable to continue to provide health care for the 300,000 children enrolled in its PeachCare S-CHIP Program."

According to Rep. Johnson, the Iraq war is draining billions of tax dollars that could fund the programs and services desired by constituents. "The American people -- not the Iraqi people, must be my priority," he said. "Without increased federal funding our children will no longer receive their immunizations. They will not get their teeth cleaned or their eyesight checked. And, worse still, they will not be able to afford the emergency room in the event of a tragedy. "

Johnson urged Congress to act expediently in allocating federal funding to states facing S-CHIP shortfalls. "Congress must reauthorize the program to ensure that all six million enrolled children continue to receive health care. And we must increase federal funding so that more uninsured children can be enrolled in this program and get the health care they need and deserve," said Johnson.

"We in Congress will give our troops the support that they need until we can responsibly bring them home, but bring them home we must," Johnson concluded. "My concern is that future funding will only escalate this war and that is not an option."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ga04_johnson/2007_02_14_peachcare.html