[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1648-E1649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               STATE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2003

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank Chairmen Tauzin and 
Bilirakis for working in the true spirit of bipartisan cooperation on 
this issue. We have developed a compromise to protect health care 
coverage for hundreds of thousands of children under the State 
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
  The SCHIP program was enacted in 1997 and currently provides health 
care coverage to approximately 4.3 million children. But there have 
been some growing pains: the state funding allotment mechanism has not 
worked perfectly and as a result, some states have

[[Page E1649]]

been left with excess funding and others with too little.
  Nearly $1.2 billion of funding intended for children's health 
insurance coverage was returned to the Treasury over the past few 
years--not for lack of need, but as a result of these problems with the 
funding allocation.
  Our bill will first preserve the $1.2 billion in funds for states to 
use through fiscal year 2004.
  In addition, the bill extends for one additional year the 
availability of $1.5 billion in SCHIP funds from fiscal years 2000 and 
2001 allotments, thereby allowing 50 percent of each year's unspent 
money to be retained by states that have not used their entire 
allotment.
  The remaining 50 percent of unspent money would be distributed to 
states that have spent all of their respective year's allotment.
  Finally, the bill will allow certain states to use a portion of their 
unspent funds for children covered through Medicaid.
  I again thank the Chairman for his efforts to move this legislation 
forward and protect health care for children under SCHIP. I hope that 
the Senate will act quickly so that we can get this bill to the 
President's desk and expedite the flow of needed funding for children's 
health care.

                          ____________________