[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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