[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 54 (Thursday, April 3, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E666-E667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF THE SCHIP WEB-BASED ENROLLMENT ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 3, 2003

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the introduction of 
a piece of legislation that will provide an e-government solution to 
the complicated process of signing kids up for health insurance, the 
SCHIP Web-Based Enrollment Act of 2003. This bill provides a simple, 
targeted method for expanding access to children's health care by 
giving States the flexibility they need to implement web-based 
enrollment programs for SCHIP.
  The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 established the State Children's 
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a program that allows States to cover 
uninsured children in families with incomes that are above Medicaid 
eligibility levels. Like Medicaid, SCHIP is a Federal-State matching 
program, but spending

[[Page E667]]

has fallen well below allotment levels for a variety of reasons. One of 
the most striking reasons is that States have had difficulty enrolling 
enough children to meet the allotment standards. Enrollment in SCHIP 
has involved lots of redtape, and the complexity of the application has 
discouraged families from signing up.
  To address this problem, States are beginning to utilize new 
technology and the Internet to streamline enrollment in SCHIP and 
Medicaid. This new technology has enabled States to reduce program 
enrollment time, improve accuracy, increase access for applicants, and 
centralize social service applications in State government. States that 
have launched or are planning to launch web-based enrollment in SCHIP 
include: California, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, 
Texas, and Washington.
  While web-based enrollment is promising, many States are challenged 
by high start-up costs. This bill would provide States with more 
flexibility to use their Federal SCHIP funds for this kind of activity, 
and would create a grant program to help States promote web-based 
enrollment.
  The SCHIP Web-Based Enrollment Act of 2003 meets these objectives in 
the following ways:
  First, it would allow States to use unused, ``retained'' 
(redistributed from the Federal Government back to the State) SCHIP 
money for this effort. Under current law, a State may use up to 10 
percent of retained 1998 allotments for outreach activities approved by 
the Secretary. The bill adds an additional provision under that section 
that allows States to use any amount of their retained funds for web-
based enrollment outreach.
  Second, the bill establishes a separate grant program, allowing 
States to apply for additional funds (separate from SCHIP money) for 
this purpose. The grant program would make $50 million available over 5 
years, and grants would be subject to a match rate. The match rate 
would be tied to their SCHIP match rate, but States would be eligible 
for up to 20 percent more than their rate, not to exceed 90 percent.
  Finally, this legislation provides assistance to States from HHS for 
development and implementation of the web-based enrollment system by 
providing information and technical assistance.
  There are 9 million uninsured children in the United States. In fact, 
a child is born without health insurance every minute in this country. 
We must do everything we can to make it easier for families to enroll 
children in the health insurance programs available to them. I believe 
that this bill will provide the necessary means to help states expand 
enrollment in SCHIP. I urge my Colleagues to support this important 
legislation.

                          ____________________