[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 194 (Wednesday, November 29, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7379-S7380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HEALTHCARE

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President. I actually am going to speak for a 
moment about something other than the tax provisions, but I have to 
say, with my friend from Missouri on the floor--and I do mean my friend 
from Missouri--that we may not agree on the tax provisions, but we do 
agree on what I am going to be talking about today, which is community 
health centers and children's health insurance. I am hopeful that, as 
the Senator was speaking about new market tax credits--which I support 
strongly--and historic preservations, they don't get hurt in this 
process at all. I know there is work to do on this to make sure it 
doesn't happen, but I appreciate working very closely with my colleague 
and friend from Missouri on what I want to talk about today.
  I rise today to draw attention to the way the Senate majority is 
failing children and families in Michigan and all across the country. 
It now has been 60 days--nearly 2 months--since Republicans let funding 
expire for the Children's Health Insurance Program and community health 
centers--60 days. It doesn't have to be this way because we have 
bipartisan support to be able to continue the funding for both of these 
programs.
  We also can't say that we haven't had time. During these 60 days, 
Republican leadership has found time for us to work on plenty of other 
issues. They passed their budget. They have taken 75 floor votes. 
Republicans introduced their tax plan, which is now before us, and we 
are spending time this week on that. And, by the way, they rewrote 
their tax plan in a way that would cause 13 million people to lose 
their health insurance. The Senate has considered 24 nominees, but 
Republicans haven't taken any action to ensure that the 9 million 
children who have health insurance from the Children's Health Insurance 
Program can continue to get medical care, even though we have 
bipartisan support.
  In the middle of all of the division going on right now on the floor, 
we could bring something to the floor that would have bipartisan 
support and do the right thing for families and for children and make 
sure that we are taking away the anxiety that families are feeling now 
across the country about what is going to happen. There are 9 million 
children right now at risk because of inaction.
  CHIP provides children from low- and moderate-income working families 
with affordable healthcare. These are families who are working. They 
don't qualify for other kinds of help. These are working families who 
sometimes have one job, sometimes two jobs, or part-time jobs, and they 
trying to hold it together. They want to be able to take their child to 
the doctor. They want the peace of mind that comes from knowing that if 
their child gets hurt or if they get sick, they can take them to a 
doctor.
  In addition, the Senate majority hasn't taken any action on another 
very important community healthcare program to ensure that 25 million 
people who count on community health centers will continue to have a 
place to go when they get hurt, when they get sick, to take their 
child, and to take their parents.
  Included among those 25 million patients are 300,000 of our 
veterans--300,000 veterans--and 7.5 million children that rely on 
health centers in our communities.
  I have often said that healthcare is personal not political. There is 
nothing more personal than waking up in the middle of the night because 
your child is crying and they are sick. There is nothing more personal 
than worrying about whether you are going to be able to get them the 
care they need. There is nothing more personal than wanting to know 
that you have a healthcare provider in your community who can help you 
or a family member manage your chronic conditions--high blood pressure, 
diabetes, and other things--so that you don't find yourself getting 
sicker and sicker and sicker.
  Healthcare is personal not political, and each one of these 9 million 
children and 25 million Americans are being personally let down by this 
inaction.
  As I indicated before, it doesn't have to be this way. We can take 
action today. We have bipartisan support right now, and bipartisan 
cosponsorship right now. We could stop the divisive debate and take a 
moment to do something really important for families and children 
before the holiday season. Right now we can ensure that families and 
children know that the Children's Health Insurance Program will 
continue in the new year and that they are going to be able to go to 
their community health center and get the care they need for themselves 
and their families.
  I was really proud of the fact that Senator Hatch, our distinguished 
chairman of the Finance Committee, and Senator Wyden, our distinguished 
ranking member, and all of us on the Committee came together to put 
together a bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program extension for 
5 years. It came out of Committee with only one Senator voting no.
  I was hoping that it was going to get done right away. Why wouldn't 
it? It is something that could sail through here. In addition to that, 
70 Members of this body, led by Senator Blunt and myself, have signed a 
letter of support for continuing funding for community health centers. 
Now, Senator Blunt and I have put in bipartisan legislation with eight 
other Democrats and 8 other Republicans to extend funding for 5 years.
  I know if this came up on the floor, we could get this done today and 
ease the worries of families that are beginning to get notices across 
the country that the health insurance for themselves and their children 
is going to run out.
  These programs have long had strong bipartisan support. Why can't we 
get the action on this that these families and children deserve? 
Instead, families continue to wait every day--60 days.
  I truly thought back in September that this was something that would 
be enough of a priority that it could get done amidst all the other 
things that have been brought to the floor of the Senate. But now the 
clock ticks every day--every day. This is wrong. We need to put these 
children and these families first.
  We might be 60 days late, but there is no reason we can't act today 
or tomorrow--before the end of the week--to make these children and 
families a top priority.
  Before CHIP, too many hard-working families in Michigan couldn't 
afford to take their children to the doctor. Today, 100,000 children 
are covered by MIChild, which is what we call our Children's Health 
Insurance Program--100,000 children.
  With all the efforts to provide affordable healthcare that are going 
on in Michigan right now--successful efforts--97 percent of the 
children in Michigan today can now see a doctor--97 percent. They are, 
at the moment, not having to go to an emergency room and wait hours and 
hours and hours or have their parents try to figure out

[[Page S7380]]

what they can do to help them when they get sick. So 97 percent of our 
children can now see a doctor, and that is the highest level ever, and 
we should be proud of that. That is a good thing.
  Yet, unless Congress acts soon, MIChild will begin running out of 
funding as early as January, which is not very far away. Happy New 
Year. Lose your health insurance.
  January will also be a bad month for Michigan's community health 
centers. Nearly 20,000 people will lose access to healthcare. Some 
20,000 people in Michigan who now are able to go to a community health 
center would see that access to healthcare go away, with thousands more 
dropped each month.
  Last year, Michigan's community health centers treated more than 
680,000 patients--680,000 people--including 12,710 of our veterans. 
They diagnosed coronary artery disease in more than 21,000 people. 
Nearly 34,000 Michigan residents were diagnosed with asthma and began 
to get help. Nearly 140,000 people were diagnosed with diabetes and 
could get help. All of those health conditions can be managed--we know 
that--if you have access to a doctor, to nurses, and to medications. 
You can manage those kinds of chronic diseases. However, they can be 
deadly if they are undiagnosed and untreated.
  Just ask William. He didn't have a regular doctor after moving to 
Jackson, MI, from Chicago, but one morning he knew he needed one. He 
woke up feeling light-headed. So he went to the Center for Family 
Health, a great facility. They discovered that William's blood pressure 
was high--so high, in fact, that he was in danger of having a heart 
attack or a stroke. It took about a year for William's doctors to find 
the right combination of medications to control his blood pressure, but 
they were able to do that. He has been getting his care at the Center 
for Family Health ever since. They literally saved his life.

  Emily from Rochester Hills has her own story about the Children's 
Health Insurance Program. Emily's dad was laid off from two separate 
jobs within 3 years at a time when her mom was working a part-time job 
that didn't provide insurance. That is a very common story for a lot of 
hard-working folks in Michigan as well as across the country. 
Thankfully, Emily and her brothers and sisters had health insurance 
through MIChild. It covered their scoliosis, asthma, a seizure 
disorder, and typical children's health insurance issues like 
bronchitis and broken bones. Emily's words are:

       The Children's Health Insurance Program was a lifesaver for 
     my siblings and me. . . . I can't imagine the stress that my 
     parents dealt with during that time and how we would have 
     survived so well without the program.

  Emily and William know CHIP and community health centers make 
lifesaving differences for people in Michigan as well as across the 
country.
  We are 60 days late, but there is no time like the present to get 
this done. We are 60 days late, but we don't have to make it 61. Our 
children and our families should be put at the top of the list for 
action, not at the bottom. It is time to make things right for the 9 
million children who rely on the Children's Health Insurance Program 
and the 25 million people who use community health centers.
  We shouldn't let one more day go by without acting. We can do this 
now. There is bipartisan support to get this done, and our children and 
our families deserve to have this done as quickly as possible.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.

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