110 HR 2147 IH: To amend titles XXI and XIX of the Social Security Act to U.S. House of Representatives 2007-05-03 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2147 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 3, 2007 Mr. Emanuel (for himself, Mr. Ramstad, Mr. LaHood, Mr. Ross, Ms. Schwartz, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Platts, Mr. Schiff, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Alexander, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Ms. Norton, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Davis of Alabama, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Kind, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Rush, Mr. Hare, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Snyder, Mr. Meeks of New York, and Mr. Cleaver) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend titles XXI and XIX of the Social Security Act to extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and streamline enrollment under SCHIP and Medicaid and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a healthy savings tax credit for purchase of children’s health coverage.

1.

Short title; table of contents; findings

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Healthy Kids Act of 2007. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; findings. Title I—SCHIP Extension Sec. 101.  Extension of SCHIP program. Sec. 102. 1-year initial availability of SCHIP allotments. Sec. 103. Redistribution of unused allotments to address State funding shortfalls. Title II—Increasing Enrollment Under SCHIP and Medicaid Sec. 201. Bonus payments for States that implement administrative policies to streamline enrollment process. Sec. 202. State option to provide for express lane and simplified determinations of a child’s financial eligibility for medical assistance under Medicaid or child health assistance under SCHIP. Sec. 203. Information technology connections to improve health coverage determinations. Sec. 204. State option to expand or add coverage of certain pregnant women under SCHIP. Sec. 205. Optional coverage of legal immigrants under the medicaid program and SCHIP. Sec. 206. Authorizing adjustment of SCHIP allotment due to increased outreach. Sec. 207. Grants to promote innovative outreach and enrollment under Medicaid and SCHIP. Sec. 208. Model of Interstate coordinated enrollment and coverage process. Sec. 209. Authority for qualifying States to use portion of SCHIP allotment for any fiscal year for certain medicaid expenditures. Sec. 210. Application of medicaid outreach procedures to all pregnant women and children. Sec. 211. No impact on section 1115 waivers. Sec. 212. Elimination of counting medicaid child presumptive eligibility costs against title XXI allotment. Sec. 213. Prohibiting limitations on enrollment. Title III—Healthy savings tax credit Sec. 301. Healthy savings tax credit. Title IV—Broker reporting of customer’s basis in securities transactions Sec. 401. Broker reporting of customer's basis in securities transactions. (c)

Findings regarding the need for universal health coverage for children

Congress finds the following: (1)Currently, there are more than 9 million children who are uninsured in the United States. (2)Approximately 75 percent of uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). (3)As the wealthiest nation in the world, the United States can and should be doing a better job to improve the health of children. (4)In 2004, according to the World Health Organization, the United States ranked 35th on infant mortality, behind Korea and Cuba. (5)Two-thirds of nations have lower rates of children dying from injuries than does the United States. (6)One-third of uninsured children in the United States went without any medical care for the entire year in 2003, while 88 percent of insured children received care. (7)Uninsured children more often have unmet health care needs and delay seeking care, resulting in poorer health. (8)Uninsured children are less likely to have access to and receive appropriate preventive care, such as immunizations, hearing and vision screens, and monitoring of growth and development. (9)Uninsured children are between three and five times more likely to have an unmet medical need than are insured children. (10)Uninsured children may delay necessary care because they visit a doctor only when their care needs become urgent. (11)Uninsured children are four times more likely than insured children to seek care in an emergency department with conditions that could have been avoided. (12)The cost of unmet health needs among children extends beyond measurable health system costs. (13)Recognizing that children whose parents have health insurance are more likely to obtain preventive and necessary care, many States are employing strategies to promote coverage of the entire family and offer programs that leverage employer sponsored insurance. (14)Problems that should be managed or cured with regular access to health care result in lower school attendance. (15)In 2004, asthma alone accounted for an estimate 14 million lost school days among children. (16)Recurrent ear infections, which could be addressed through regular access to health care, reduce children’s ability to communicate and thus school readiness and performance. (d)

Findings regarding the role of Medicaid and SCHIP in covering children

Congress finds the following: (1)Since SCHIP was created, enormous progress has been made in reducing disparities in children’s coverage rates. (2)SCHIP and Medicaid have improved children’s coverage rates and access to needed health care services. (3)SCHIP and Medicaid account for the 30 percent decline in the number of uninsured children since 1998, even as employer-based coverage decreased and the overall rate of uninsured people grew. (4)Children enrolled in SCHIP or Medicaid are three times more likely to have a usual source of care than are uninsured children. (5)SCHIP reduces the percent of children with an unmet health care need. (6)According to a Federal evaluation of SCHIP, uninsured children who gained coverage through SCHIP received more preventive care, and their parents reported better access to providers and improved communications with their children’s doctors. (7)SCHIP covers children who would otherwise be uninsured. (8)Most newly enrolled children in SCHIP were previously uninsured or had recently lost their Medicaid or private health coverage for involuntary reasons. (9)SCHIP established important strategies to avoid “crowd out” of existing health insurance coverage, and research suggests that these measures remain critical to the effective use of public dollars.