Throughout the time I have served in Congress, I have consistently supported steps toward universal health care for all our citizens. We have recently been considering reauthorizing and expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-Chip) that would provide health care to more than 11 million uninsured children and would represent another step toward universal coverage. Although the President has criticized this as too expensive, expanding health care coverage to children of working families provides preventive care and reduces costly emergency medical treatment. We should take every reasonable action we can to reauthorize and expand this program.

Today our nation is faced with a healthcare crisis.  There are 47 million Americans, 16% of the population, who lack health insurance, including 10 million uninsured children.  The uninsured are greatly limited in their healthcare options and have to seek medical treatment only in emergencies – in hospital emergency rooms, in the most expensive, least efficient and least cost-effective way.

Of the 10 million uninsured children, minorities are disproportionately overrepresented.  As a result, black children suffer substantial health disparities compared to whites.  For example, black children have one-third more emergency room visits, twice as many of them receive poor quality health care and their rates of asthma and many other adverse medical conditions are staggering. 

These troubling statistics led Congress to pass the Children’s Health Reauthorization Act to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-chip).  Today 6 million children are covered under S-chip and that coverage will expire on November 15.  The vast majority of these children have no other health options. 

In September of this year, Congress sent President Bush a bipartisan, broadly supported bill, the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act, that would have extended existing S-chip coverage and expanded S-chip to cover 4 million more children.  This bill contrasts sharply with the S-chip bill the President proposed which would not have even continued coverage for those currently enrolled in S-chip at the levels at which they are covered. 

On October 3rd President Bush vetoed the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act that Congress had adopted and there were not enough votes to override the President’s veto.  President Bush claimed that the bill passed by Congress was too expensive and would expand coverage under S-chip to upper income families.  The President’s claims are unfounded.  Part of the money Congress approved would have maintained the existing S-chip program and paid the rising health care costs to maintain coverage for the 6 million children already enrolled and the balance would have provided coverage for the 4 million children who are not yet covered but are eligible under the current standards.

Congress passed the original S-chip program in 1996.  It’s time for the President to sign a new S-chip bill covering all 10 million children who need health coverage.  If the President refuses to do so, it’s time for Congress to override the President’s veto.  Call your member of Congress and call the Whitehouse to deliver that message today.