[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2382 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2382

    To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to allow certain 
 community-based organizations and health care providers to determine 
 that a child is presumptively eligible for medical assistance under a 
                      State plan under that title.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 1998

 Mr. McCain (for himself and Mr. Kerry) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to allow certain 
 community-based organizations and health care providers to determine 
 that a child is presumptively eligible for medical assistance under a 
                      State plan under that title.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Health Assurance through 
the Medicaid Program (CHAMP) Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Twenty-three percent or 3,400,000 of the 15,000,000 
        medicaid-eligible children went without health insurance in 
        1996.
            (2) Medicaid-eligible children with working parents are 
        more likely to be uninsured.
            (3) More than 35 percent of the 3,400,000 million uninsured 
        medicaid-eligible children are Hispanic.
            (4) Almost three-fourths of the uninsured medicaid-eligible 
        children live in the Western and Southern States.
            (5) Multiple studies have shown that insured children are 
        more likely to receive preventive and primary health care 
        services as well as to have a relationship with a physician.
            (6) Studies have shown that a lack of health insurance 
        prevents parents from trying to obtain preventive health care 
        for their children.
            (7) These studies demonstrate that low-income and uninsured 
        children are more likely to be hospitalized for conditions that 
        could have been treated with appropriate outpatient services, 
        resulting in higher health care costs.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL ENTITIES QUALIFIED TO DETERMINE MEDICAID PRESUMPTIVE 
              ELIGIBILITY FOR LOW-INCOME CHILDREN.

    Section 1920A(b)(3)(A)(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1396r-1a(b)(3)(A)(i)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or (II)'' and inserting ``, (II)''; and
            (2) by inserting ``eligibility of a child for medical 
        assistance under the State plan under this title, or 
        eligibility of a child for child health assistance under the 
        program funded under title XXI, or (III) is an elementary 
        school or secondary school, as such terms are defined in 
        section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
        1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801), an elementary or secondary school 
        operated or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a State 
        child support enforcement agency, a child care resource and 
        referral agency, or a State office or private contractor that 
        accepts applications for or administers a program funded under 
        part A of title IV or that determines eligibility for any 
        assistance or benefits provided under any program of public or 
        assisted housing that receives Federal funds, including the 
        program under section 8 or any other section of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.)'' before 
        the semicolon.
                                 <all>