[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 26 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1835-S1837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 SCHIP

  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I rise to wholeheartedly endorse an 
amendment filed today prior to the 2:30 deadline, authored by Senator 
Chambliss and coauthored by myself. The amendment relates to SCHIP, 
State Children's Health Insurance Program, and a crisis that exists 
right now, this minute, in 17 States in the United States of America.
  As the occupant of the chair knows, SCHIP is a program where our most 
needy children are able to get health insurance. It is a 71-percent 
Federal Medicaid match. But unlike Medicaid, it is not an entitlement; 
it is an appropriated amount annually that is derived by a formula as 
the States get their benefit. What has happened this year is that a 
number of States, with a number of children eligible for the program, 
have run out of their Federal match and it is capitated.
  Also, a number of States have a significant surplus. What Senator 
Chambliss has proposed, and what I am advocating, is an amendment we 
want to propose to the CR which would take that amount of surplus SCHIP 
money in States with more than 200 percent of their estimated need--
take that amount above 200 percent and put it into a pool and 
reallocate it to those States that are falling short, so that through 
this fiscal year every child in America who has been promised 
children's health insurance can in fact get it.
  It doesn't penalize any State that has a surplus because that is 
money they have not and will not use. It doesn't benefit any State who 
has abused the system. It is just that we have a number of States that 
have grown rapidly in their numbers. In Georgia alone, in the aftermath 
of Hurricane Katrina, we added 43,000 children immediately into our 
State's population, most all of whom remain today.
  I know the CR amendment tree has been filled as of now. The 
distinguished majority leader has filled the tree, so there will be no 
room for amendments to the continuing resolution. I intend to vote 
tomorrow for cloture to allow us to complete this resolution and 
continue appropriations for this year. I hope the distinguished 
majority leader will think about the value of saving the SCHIP program 
this year.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter that 
was distributed by the majority leader and the Speaker, written to the 
President of the United States, on February 2.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


                                Congress of the United States,

                                 Washington, DC, February 2, 2007.
     The President
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: We understand you plan to submit a 
     request for emergency supplemental appropriations soon, which 
     news reports indicate could exceed $100 billion. As you 
     consider the emergency needs of our nation, we respectfully 
     request that you not forget the millions of low-income 
     Americans who are insured under the State Children's Health 
     Insurance Program (SCHIP). We ask that you submit a separate 
     spending proposal to cover shortfalls in SCHIP for Fiscal 
     Year 2007 which have been estimated to be $745 million. 
     Unless we act quickly to provide additional funds to this 
     important program, we are putting the health coverage of 
     thousands of Americans in jeopardy.
       As you know, over 46 million Americans are without health 
     insurance. We can ill afford to increase the rolls of the 
     uninsured for failure to adequately fund a successful and 
     efficient insurance program such as SCHIP. Yet we know that 
     at least fourteen states will face a shortfall of SCHIP funds 
     within months. The Governor of Georgia has written to us 
     stating that ``It is vitally important to our most needy 
     citizens that Congress act expeditiously.''
       At the end of the last Congress, we were successful in 
     including a provision to avert a

[[Page S1836]]

     similar crisis, but unfortunately, we are again in need of 
     another short-term solution. While we plan to work in 
     Congress later this year to reauthorize SCHIP and address 
     longer-term issues, it is essential that you work with us to 
     again provide a short-term fix. The cost of filling the 
     funding shortfall is minor in comparison to your other 
     emergency requests.
       SCHIP has become a vital part our safety net, providing 
     health care coverage to millions of Americans who otherwise 
     would be uninsured. Including funds to address fully the 
     looming SCHIP shortfall would assure that states can continue 
     to provide this important coverage while we work to address 
     the longer-term success of the program.
           Sincerely
     Harry Reid,
       Senate Majority
         Leader.
     Nancy Pelosi,
       Speaker.

  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, they made my case better than I make it 
in this letter. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid say 
we must fix the SCHIP program and suggested that the President add that 
to the emergency supplemental on Iraq, which we are going to take up in 
April.
  The problem with that is, my State of Georgia runs out of SCHIP money 
at the end of this month--maybe, at the latest, at the end of March. We 
are having to cut off new enrollees now and will soon send out the 
notices to 273,000 children. There will be no money for the remainder 
of the year after March to meet the obligations of SCHIP. That will 
take place in States around the country, North, South, East and West.
  Think about it. If you have enough money here and everybody who had 
that money allocated has used all they need, and you don't have enough 
money over here, it is a simple accounting measurement to fix that in 
this interim time. Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus have already 
committed, and Senators Rockefeller and Reid--all of us on both sides 
have all said we have to fix the formula; we will get to it toward the 
end of the year. But we can fix it in the interim to see to it that no 
child with health care under SCHIP loses that before we make the 
permanent fix.
  I commend Senator Chambliss, who is on the floor, on his leadership 
and this amendment. I ask the majority leader to give close thought to 
this issue that was referenced in his own letter of February 2. If 
there was one amendment that could go on the continuing resolution and 
would receive unanimous support in the Congress and in the Senate, it 
is the amendment authored by Senator Chambliss and cosponsored by 
myself. I ask the leadership to seriously consider allowing an opening 
on the amendment tree so that amendment can be passed and adopted, and 
children in Georgia and around the country will end up having the 
health care that they have been promised and that they deserve.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia is recognized.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Madam President, first, I thank my dear friend from 
Oregon for letting us have some time here to talk about this issue that 
is so critical to 17 States, which my colleague so eloquently stated. I 
appreciate that.
  I say to my colleague from Georgia, he and I have worked on this 
issue so closely together, and the authorship is a combination between 
the two of us. He has been very generous with his time on this issue 
and, most importantly, very generous with the thought process he always 
puts into the most difficult issues we face up here. Without Senator 
Isakson, we would not be where we are today on this amendment.
  Today I wish to speak to a critical piece of legislation. It is my 
hope that this legislation will remedy a situation currently facing 
hundreds of thousands of hard-working families in Georgia who depend on 
the State Children's Health Insurance Program--or what we know as 
SCHIP.
  In Georgia, some 273,000 previously uninsured children are now 
receiving health insurance provided by our State's Peachcare Program. 
Georgia is one of several States facing a projected funding shortfall 
for fiscal year 2007.
  Last week, the Georgia Department of Community Health that runs 
Peachcare announced that it will stop enrolling new children into the 
program effective March 11, 2007.
  Senator Isakson, Congressman Nathan Deal, and I have been working 
relentlessly with our Governor, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services, Senator Grassley, and the Finance and Budget Committees to 
find a short-term solution for the children of Georgia who are 
dependent upon this program. Unfortunately, to this point there has 
been no resolution.
  Senator Isakson would like to introduce an amendment today to the 
continuing resolution that would redistribute fiscal year 2005 and 2006 
funds from States that have an excess of more than 200 percent in 
Federal SCHIP funds to cover the shortfall for States in need for the 
remainder of fiscal year 2007.
  Congress has already passed legislation in an attempt to continue to 
cover children in States that are running out of funding for SCHIP. 
H.R. 6164, which became public law on January 15, 2007, required a 
redistribution of SCHIP funds in an attempt to delay State shortfalls 
until May of 2007. The estimated remaining shortfall is approximately 
$750 million for 14 States. According to recent estimates there is 
about $4 billion in unspent funds which have accumulated in other 
States.
  Hard-working Georgians who qualify for this program don't need to 
wonder how they are going to pay for their children's health care. We 
must bridge the gap so that these children can continue to be insured, 
and I hope the Democratic leadership will allow this amendment to be 
considered.
  Time is running out on this funding issue for Georgia's children and 
children in other States. The continuing resolution is an important 
funding vehicle that will allow us to solve this problem for the 
remainder of the year until Congress can reauthorize this program.
  Georgia's Peachcare Program is providing health insurance to the 
children of hardworking Americans. They are the kids of the mechanic 
who works on your car at the local service station, the woman who 
checks you out every week at the grocery store, or the teacher who is 
providing your children with the basic knowledge they will use 
throughout their life. SCHIP programs are for the men and women who 
make too much money to receive Medicaid yet cannot afford to provide 
premium insurance for their children at the level of care that they 
need.
  I read in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently about Sylvia 
Banks, a mother of 3 from Ringgold, GA, who is a parent that is 
concerned the Peachcare Program will soon run out of money. Her 13-
year-old son, Benjamin, wears a $7,000 insulin pump, and supplies for 
him are around $300 a month, paid for by Peachcare. In a recent news 
article, Ms. Banks, whose husband is a minister, states, ``We can't do 
without the insurance. We are taxpayers trying our best to earn an 
honest living. We are not trying to suck up the government's money. We 
see this as a benefit and blessing.''
  Peachcare, and other programs funded through SCHIP throughout the 
country, allow families to bridge the gap between Medicaid and high 
priced premium insurance that many families cannot afford.
  The importance of this program is too vital to our country's working 
class not to find a solution to this problem, and find a solution soon.
  Mr. President, let me just briefly read some excerpts from a letter 
written to President Bush from Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Nancy 
Pelosi, who have echoed our sentiments about this critical funding 
issue:

       As you consider the emergency needs of our Nation, we 
     respectfully request that you not forget the millions of low-
     income Americans who are insured under the State Children's 
     Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). We ask that you submit a 
     separate spending proposal to cover shortfalls in SCHIP for 
     fiscal year 2007 which have been estimated to be $745 
     million. Unless we act quickly to provide additional funds to 
     this important program, we are putting the health coverage of 
     thousands of Americans in jeopardy.
       As you know, over 46 million Americans are without health 
     insurance. We can ill afford to increase the rolls of the 
     uninsured for failure to adequately fund a successful and 
     efficient insurance program such as SCHIP. Yet we know that 
     at least fourteen States will face a shortfall of SCHIP funds 
     within months. The Governor of Georgia has written to us 
     stating that ``it is vitally important to our most needy 
     citizens that Congress act expeditiously.''

  The letter goes on to say:

       SCHIP has become a vital part of our safety net, providing 
     health care coverage to millions of Americans who otherwise 
     would

[[Page S1837]]

     be uninsured. Including funds to address fully the looming 
     SCHIP shortfall would assure that States can continue to 
     provide this important coverage while we work to address the 
     longer-term success of the program.

  So again, we have introduced our amendment today because Georgia's 
children are waiting. This is about them--our children. They are our 
Nation's future--and their health care needs must be met. The people in 
Georgia want a solution to this problem. Hard working Georgians and 
Americans across the U.S. don't need to wonder how they are going to 
pay for their children's health care. These are our middle class 
citizens who work to find a solution and that is what we have been 
doing and what we will continue to do.
  I urge the Democratic leadership to allow consideration of this 
amendment, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon is recognized.

                          ____________________