[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 23 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. ALLEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the Democratic leadership's 
proposal to add children's health care to the priorities we address 
this session. Today more than 10 million American children have no 
health insurance coverage.
  Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday the New York Times reported that over the 
past 5 years the number of children without insurance has risen twice 
as fast as the number of adults. Most of these are the children of 
working families earning between $15,000 and $45,000 per year. In my 
State the Maine Health Care Commission estimated that in 1996 36,000 
Maine children had no health insurance coverage, and 91 percent of 
Maine's uninsured children live in families with at least one working 
parent.
  Ten million American children relying on emergency room treatment 
instead of a family physician is wrong and expensive. We can and must 
do better. This Congress should encourage kids-only insurance policies 
and expand basic Medicaid coverage to uninsured children.

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