[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E424-E425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       THE HEALTHY KIDS 2000 ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 1999

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, today I join my colleague, Senator Kit 
Bond, in introducing legislation that addresses one of the greatest 
challenges of our Nation: assuring quality health care for pregnant 
women and appropriate pediatric care for infants. Our bill, the Healthy 
Kids 2000 Act, builds upon the Birth Defects Prevention Act signed into 
law last April, by consolidating programs and providing more funds for 
local initiatives to prevent birth defects and maternal mortality.
  The idea behind our proposal is simple: we want pregnant women to be 
healthy, and we want children to be healthy. To accomplish this, we 
must remove some of the barriers women and children encounter in 
receiving adequate, appropriate health care.
  The Healthy Kids 2000 Act will allow States greater flexibility in 
ensuring quality prenatal care by allowing States to enroll eligible 
pregnant women in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), 
for which Congress

[[Page E425]]

provided $25 billion in 1997 to assist 10 million uninsured children in 
receiving the most basic health care. A recent study by the March of 
Dimes estimates that 45,000 uninsured pregnant women who are not 
eligible for Medicaid could be covered by S-CHIP if States were given 
the flexibility of extending coverage to income eligible pregnant women 
age 19 or older.
  Additionally, the bill increases enrollment of Medicaid-eligible 
pregnant women. Currently, approximately 77 percent of uninsured 
pregnant women are eligible for Medicaid but are not enrolled. The bill 
also ensures direct access to obstetric care for women, and direct 
access to pediatric care, since children have health needs that are 
very different than those of the adult population.
  Another crucial element of our bill allows our Nation's independent 
children's hospitals to receive Federal funding for graduate medical 
education. Currently, children's hospitals receive almost no Federal 
GME funding. With few Medicare patients, these children's hospitals 
receive less than $400 in Federal funds for each medical resident they 
train, while other teaching hospitals receive on average more than 
$79,000 for each resident--creating a serious inequity in the 
competitive market for these children's hospitals. As these hospitals 
try to fulfill their teaching missions, competitive market pressures 
provide little incentive for private payers to contribute toward 
teaching costs.
  In an effort to reduce our Nation's infant death rate and to improve 
the chances of healthy birth outcomes, the Healthy Kids 2000 Act 
establishes a National Center for Birth Defects Research and 
Prevention, and strengthens local initiatives for drug, alcohol, and 
smoking prevention and cessation programs for pregnant mothers. An 
estimated 150,000 infants are born each year with a birth defect, 
resulting in one out of every five infant deaths. More children die in 
the U.S. from birth defects in the first year of life than from any 
other cause. Effective locally-based programs will prevent these 
horrific outcomes by equipping mothers, families, and health care 
providers with information and approaches needed to ensure women safer 
pregnancies.
  Furthermore, our bill increases funding for the National Institutes 
of Health by creating the Pediatric Research Initiative, which will 
provide further money to research efforts on diseases and conditions 
which afflict our Nation's children, such as birth defects, SIDS, 
cystic fibrosis, juvenile diabetes, and muscular dystrophy.
  Our health care professionals in southern Missouri and across the 
Nation work very hard to provide the highest quality care for our 
children. The reality is that pediatric care, like all health care, 
does cost money. We need to take positive steps to ensure that every 
mother-to-be and their children are able to access this quality care. I 
am very pleased to again be working with Senator Bond on an important 
children's health initiative. On behalf of our youngest and most 
vulnerable citizens, I urge my colleagues to review the Healthy Kids 
2000 Act, to discuss this bill with families in their districts, and to 
join me in cosponsoring this important legislation.

                          ____________________