[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 135 (Wednesday, September 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S11513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Smith, Mr. Rockefeller, Ms. 
        Snowe, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Kerry):
  S. 2049. A bill to prohibit the implementation of policies to 
prohibit States from providing quality health coverage to children in 
need under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, when we passed the Children's Health 
Insurance Program a decade ago, we made a promise to working families 
to do more to help them obtain decent health insurance for their 
children. Today, we are keeping that promise. The Senate has passed a 
bipartisan CHIP reauthorization to strengthen the program, bring health 
care to at least four million more children, and strengthen the 
outreach and funding for the program.
  CHIP has been a great success for children who obtain its coverage. 
Over the last decade, the percentage of uninsured children has dropped 
from 22 percent in 1997 to 13 percent today. And that's in spite of the 
fact that more and more parents have been losing insurance coverage 
through their jobs, because employers decide to reduce it or drop it 
entirely. But 9 million children in the United States still lack health 
insurance because they are not aware of their eligibility for coverage, 
or because eligibility is too restrictive. The CHIP reauthorization 
bill will make a real difference in closing this unacceptable gap so 
that no parents are faced with the decision of whether they can afford 
to take their sick child to a doctor.
  The Bush administration, however, is bent on blocking this progress. 
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a new guidance 
that will make it virtually impossible for States to expand coverage to 
children in with household incomes above 250 percent of the Federal 
poverty level. The guidance will be especially disruptive and unfair to 
CHIP coverage in 18 states, including Massachusetts, which now allows 
for children in families with income levels over 250 percent of 
poverty.
  No State should be forced to cut health insurance coverage for 
children. Once again, the Administration has shown itself to be out of 
touch and out of step with the priorities of working Americans. The 
Administration's action denies the promise of good health care to 
countless children in communities across America.
  That is why today, along with Senators Smith, Rockefeller and Snowe, 
I am introducing legislation to nullify the new rule from the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services and allow each State to cover 
children at the income level that is most appropriate for their State. 
Simply, children in all States should be able to obtain the quality 
health care they need in order to grow and thrive. The administration 
should be ashamed of its cruel attempt to revoke this needed coverage, 
and Congress should not allow the new rule to stand.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill, The 
Better Health for America's Children Act,'' with my esteemed colleague 
Senator Edward Kennedy that will serve to block implementation of the 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, guidance issued on 
August 17, 2007, which negatively impacts the State Children's Health 
Insurance Program, SCHIP. I also am pleased to be joined by fellow 
Finance Committee members Senator Rockefeller and Senator Snowe as we 
introduce this important bill.
  If allowed to go forward, this new policy will have a devastating 
impact on our Nation's children's access to affordable health care 
coverage. The guidance, as set out in the August 17 letter to State 
Health Officials, sets unrealistic standards that will serve only to 
prevent States from covering children with incomes above 250 percent of 
the Federal poverty level, FPL, under SCHIP. While the agency has 
stated that it simply is trying to preserve coverage for low-income 
children, this policy will impede a State's ability to expand health 
insurance to children whose family income is above $42,925 for a family 
of three. With health care costs increasingly being priced out of 
working families' reach, this income limit is unrealistic. In July 
2007, the U.S. Senate recognized this when it passed a bipartisan bill 
that would allow States to cover children with family incomes up to 300 
percent FPL under SCHIP.
  As the recently released census data shows, the number of uninsured 
children grew to 9 million in 2006. The administration should be 
working with the U.S. Senate to reauthorize SCHIP and deliver to States 
the tools they need to enroll the 6 million children who are eligible 
for SCHIP but not enrolled. It shouldn't be wasting resources on 
putting up roadblocks intended to prevent coverage.
  I hope that the Senate can work together to advance this bipartisan 
proposal to ensure that the SCHIP program remains strong and low-income 
children have access the health care.
                                 ______