Washington, DC - The U.S. House of Representatives recently took a vital step toward ensuring the future health of America by approving 225 to 204 the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act of 2007 (H.R. 3162), one of the most important bills considered by Congress this year.

I supported this bill because it would improve the health of thousands of Texas children, especially those whose parents can least afford health insurance. It will allow approximately five million additional children across the country to access health insurance under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by providing states with predictable funding and important incentives to enroll the children who are currently eligible but remain un-enrolled.

As a member of the Health Subcommittee, I made sure the CHAMP Act included a provision guaranteeing 12 months of continuous SCHIP eligibility to children from low-income families. Health experts agree that a full year of continuous eligibility is the best way to ensure that we keep children on SCHIP rolls. This provision protects children from state budgetary whims and ensures that states like Texas can no longer erect roadblocks that make it difficult and time-consuming for working parents to enroll their children. For too long, Texas has forced its low-income children to reenroll every six months, resulting in bureaucratic barriers to coverage that have hurt the most vulnerable members of our society.

The bill also provides an important bonus payment as an incentive for states to utilize proven outreach and enrollment tools to identify eligible children and enroll them in SCHIP. In addition to 12 month of continuous eligibility, these tools include: administration verification of assets; elimination of the in-person interview requirement; use of a joint application for Medicaid and SCHIP; automatic renewal; presumptive eligibility; and express lane eligibility. States would receive the bonus payment for implementing four of the seven outreach and enrollment tools.

The bill also strengthens the Medicare program for seniors and individuals with disabilities by equalizing payments between traditional Medicare and overpaid private plans. It also makes critical investments in Medicare to ensure the long-term solvency of the program by addressing physician reimbursement rates. This way, seniors maintain access to the doctors of their choice.

Specifically, the CHAMP Act of 2007:

Improves Medicare’s preventive benefits by eliminating all co-payments and deductibles for these procedures.
Makes it easier for Medicare to add new preventive benefits without requiring approval from Congress
Provides for fair treatment of beneficiaries with mental illness, including Alzheimer’s disease, by phasing down their 50% co-payment to 20% by 2012.
Adds new consumer protections to the Medicare Part D drug program, including enabling low-income and adversely affected beneficiaries to change plans any time.
Reduces health disparities in Medicare by improving support for previously uninsured beneficiaries entering the program and requiring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to collect and report new data on disparities in care among population groups.
Curbs overpayments to private plans that increase premiums for all beneficiaries.
Lays the groundwork for a long-term solution to the physician payment system by establishing a new bonus for efficient physicians; informing physicians how their performances compares to that of their peers; and investing in primary care and prevention.

The CHAMP Act makes important improvements to our nation’s health care system and targets its benefits to our nation’s most vulnerable populations: children and senior citizens. The CHAMP Act makes important investments in health care for both the “Greatest Generation” and the future of this country: our children’s generation.