[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 39 (Monday, March 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       EXTENSION OF CHIP FUNDING

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, it has been 1 month since I took to the 
floor of this body to urge my colleagues to work together to extend 
funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. Just this 
past month, I have held roundtables at almost every major city in Ohio 
to hear more about what CHIP means to people in Ohio. At each of these 
roundtables, I spoke with families who depend on CHIP to get their kids 
the care they need.
  Please understand that there are 130,000 Ohio children who are 
eligible for CHIP and who have benefited from CHIP, and in almost every 
case they are the sons and daughters of parents who work. These are 
parents who don't make enough money and don't work at a place where the 
employer provides insurance. They may be $9, $10, $11 or $12 an hour 
jobs. They are working, and the income they are making simply isn't 
enough to buy insurance for their kids and for their families. So that 
is the importance of rewarding work. These 130,000 children now have 
insurance because of a bipartisan bill, the Children's Health Insurance 
Program. They have had it for 20 years.
  It is in jeopardy now. Last week I was at the John R. Maloney Health 
Center in Columbus, where more kids rely on CHIP than anywhere else in 
the State. Some 13,000 children in Franklin County alone have health 
coverage because of CHIP.
  I spoke with Meredith Mendoza, a mother living in Gahanna, OH. She 
works full time as a medical interpreter and makes too much to qualify 
for Medicaid but not quite enough to afford health insurance, and her 
employer doesn't provide it. Three of her four children have 
affordable, comprehensive coverage because of CHIP.
  CHIP provides a sigh of relief for parents such as Meredith because 
CHIP means better access to comprehensive care for their children. 
Providing health insurance to low-income children isn't just the right 
thing to do; it is the smart thing to do.
  This is why it is the smart thing to do. It allays the anxiety that 
so many families have about one of their children getting sick. It 
helps families feel more secure that they won't be wiped out 
financially and in other ways by a sick child. It helps that child do 
better in school because the child will miss fewer days and the child 
will feel better. It gives that child preventive care. It means 
vaccines, preventive health care, getting physicals, and it means 
dental care. It means better performance in school. CHIP means all of 
that.
  But the problem is that the CHIP law is until 2019. We authorized it 
a couple years ago. The funding runs out in September. My Governor, the 
Republican Governor of Ohio, wants to see us fund CHIP through 2019 so 
we can continue to provide this insurance to all 130,000 children in my 
State.
  If we don't act now, States will have to assume that CHIP is 
expiring, as they go through their budget process. In other words, CHIP 
funding runs out in September, but States--through their legislative 
process, where fiscal years often end during the early or mid-summer--
need to begin to work this through their budgets right now.
  The Utah legislature adjourns this week, March 12; New Mexico, March 
21; Idaho, April 3; Tennessee, April 17; Alaska, April 19; Iowa, April 
21; and Montana, April 27. All but seven State legislatures adjourn 
before September. That makes the need to act even more dire.
  That is why I was proud to introduce legislation last month called 
the Protecting And Retaining Our Children's Health Insurance Program 
Act, or PRO-CHIP. It has been endorsed by every children's hospital in 
Ohio, almost all of them around the country, several national groups--
the March of Dimes, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's 
Hospital Association, Families USA--all kinds of people, and all kinds 
of groups.
  CHIP just makes sense. Protecting health coverage, protecting health 
insurance, and providing health insurance to low-income children isn't 
just the smart thing to do; it is the right thing to do.
  I call on my colleagues to pass the CHIP refunding bill so that it 
doesn't run out in September. Then States can plan so we can provide 
the health insurance to 10 million children--almost all of whose 
parents work for a living and who simply don't make enough money to 
provide insurance for their families.
  I yield the floor.

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