[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 214]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           INTRODUCTION OF THE MEDIKIDS HEALTH INSURANCE ACT

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 6, 2009

  Mr. STARK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the MediKids 
Health Insurance Act of 2009, legislation to provide universal health 
coverage to our Nation's children.
  During the campaign, President-elect Obama spoke of the need to 
mandate coverage to ensure that every child receives needed health care 
services. MediKids is the simplest, most effective means of achieving 
that goal. While it is critical that any reform proposal meet the 
special needs of children, I want to be clear that I am not suggesting 
we start with children or stop with children. I am looking forward to 
working with the new administration and Congressional colleagues on a 
health reform effort for which the goal is assuring comprehensive care 
for everyone. I am open to other proposals and believe that we have to 
look across the board at various options. However, I submit that 
MediKids contains many elements that could be useful in the upcoming 
debate.
  Nearly 9 million children in this country still lack health insurance 
coverage. The majority of these children live in families with at least 
one fulltime worker. Often, their families are not offered coverage by 
their employers at all or they cannot afford the premiums. These 
simple, but sobering, statistics speak to the need for change. Our 
system is fundamentally broken when a working parent cannot get health 
coverage for his or her children.
  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I think we should build on what 
works. When Congress created Medicare more than 40 years ago, our 
Nation's seniors were more likely to be living in poverty than any 
other age group. Many senior citizens were unable to afford needed 
medical services and unable to find health insurance in the private 
market, even if they had the resources. Today, as a result of 
Medicare's success, seniors are much less likely to be shackled by the 
bonds of poverty or to go without needed health care.
  Sadly, children are now the group who are most likely to be living in 
poverty. Kids in America are nearly twice as vulnerable to poverty as 
adults. This travesty is morally reprehensible, and it has grave 
consequences for the future of our country. Our future rests on our 
ability to provide our children with the basic conditions to thrive and 
become healthy, educated, and successful adults. Poor children are 
often malnourished and have difficulty succeeding in school. Untreated 
illnesses only worsen their chance to become productive members of our 
economy. Healthy children are the key to our economic future.
  The MediKids Health Insurance Act would create a new Federal health 
insurance program for children. Modeled after Medicare, MediKids would 
provide comprehensive benefits appropriate to children, simplified 
cost-sharing, prescription drug coverage and mental health parity.
  Every child in America would be automatically enrolled in MediKids at 
birth and maintain that eligibility through age 23. The cost, adjusted 
for income, would be applied to the family's annual tax bill, unless 
they opted for other coverage and showed proof of that coverage. As 
such, parents would retain the choice to enroll eligible kids in 
private plans or other Government programs such as Medicaid or SCHIP. 
However, if a lapse in the other insurance coverage occurred, MediKids 
would automatically fill in the gap.
  MediKids doesn't have complicated enrollment and eligibility hoops. 
Instead, it assures that families will always have access to affordable 
health insurance for their children, and it ensures that all children 
get a truly healthy start in life.
  MediKids was originally written in close collaboration with the 
American Academy of Pediatrics. They have endorsed MediKids as the best 
way to provide health coverage to all our children. The bill has also 
been endorsed by the Children's Defense Fund, Families USA, the 
National Association of Children's Hospitals, and other organizations 
advocating for better health care for America's children. As we work on 
health care reform, we need to pay particular attention to the unique 
needs of our Nation's children. MediKids is a model that accomplishes 
that goal.

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