[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 23, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
    SUPPORT CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  (Mr. CUELLAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in full support of H.R. 
3963, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. The 
SCHIP program in the State of Texas has been extremely successful in 
providing crucial access to health care for children. SCHIP coverage 
provides children with coverage for a full range of health services.
  Uninsured children are five times more likely than insured children 
to use the emergency room in hospitals as their main source for medical 
care. The cost of an emergency room visit is more than $144 compared to 
only $36 for a primary doctor's visit. A number of these emergency 
visits should be made to primary doctors with SCHIP coverage.
  The current SCHIP enrollment for the children in the State of Texas 
is about 353,000, and there are over 1.4 million uninsured children in 
the State of Texas, which is the highest rate of uninsured children in 
the Nation.
  Madam Speaker, I am glad to support the SCHIP reauthorization act and 
ask my colleagues to support this bill.

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