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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congresswoman Lois Capps celebrated an important victory for children and seniors as the House passed the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP). Despite a blatant misinformation campaign against the legislation led by the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans, the bill passed by a vote of 225 to 204.
The CHAMP bill would provide health care to as many as 12 million kids by renewing a major piece of health care legislation, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is currently set to expire on September 30th of this year. This program, known in California as Healthy Families, is an important partnership between the federal and state government to provide healthcare to children whose parents either cannot afford insurance or who hold jobs that lack healthcare benefits. The legislation preserves the coverage of the six million children already covered by SCHIP and extends coverage to as many as six million additional children who qualify for the program but are not currently enrolled. In addition to provide healthcare coverage for millions of children, the CHAMP Act includes important fixes to Medicare to ensure that senior citizens and people with disabilities can continue to see their doctors and that Medicare remains solvent.
“Today the new Majority took an important step to protect the most vulnerable in our society – children, seniors, and the disabled - who are counting on us to ensure that they have access to affordable, quality healthcare,” said Capps, a nurse and Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health. “Working to improve healthcare for children is one of the main reasons I came to Congress, and I am proud of the new Majority’s efforts to protect and expand healthcare coverage for our neediest children despite the resistance of the President and the Minority. I hope that in the coming weeks those opposing this legislation will put partisanship aside and join me and the new Majority in supporting this important healthcare legislation.”
In addition to the CHAMP Act’s provisions improving and expanding healthcare for seniors, children and the disabled, at the request of Congresswoman Capps, the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act contains a provision to address the flawed Medicare reimbursement system in which physicians in certain counties, including Santa Barbara County are reimbursed at an inadequate rate due to their designations as a rural counties. Capps’ provision will increase reimbursements based on geographic factors for physicians in several counties, including Santa Barbara.
“In addition to protecting vital healthcare coverage for children, seniors and the disabled, the CHAMP Act includes my provision to provide more fair Medicare payments to healthcare providers in Santa Barbara County,” said Capps. “I have been working since I came to Congress to address this situation and I am pleased that under the leadership of the new Majority we have finally taken the first steps to fix this problem plaguing healthcare in Santa Barbara County.”
“The California Medical Association would like to thank Congresswoman Lois Capps for her dedication to the patients and physicians of California,” said Anmol S. Mahal, MD, President of the California Medical Association. “Her strong support of the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act will ensure that low-income uninsured children and Medicare seniors have direct access to doctors in California. The California Medical Association also appreciates her resolve to bring about equity in Medicare geographic payments. Without her advocacy physicians in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo would be facing inequitable geographic payment reductions. She has protected physicians from 15% payment reductions and ensured both sustainable growth rate and geographic payment updates.”
A copy of Congresswoman Capps’ floor speech follows:
Statement of Rep. Lois Capps
HR 3162, the CHAMP Act
August 1, 2007
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of America’s children and America’s seniors.
This bill before us today is the reason I came to Congress – to continue my work in improving healthcare for children.
It is an embarrassment that our country has failed the millions of children in working families who have no healthcare coverage.
And today we will undo our wrong.
Through our fiscally responsible package, we will ensure that millions of eligible children will be able to:
·access primary care,
·manage chronic illness
·avoid unnecessary absences in school
·and grow into healthy, productive adults
And how fitting, that at the same time, we will protect our seniors by preventing the looming 10% cut in Medicare physician reimbursements.
I have been disheartened by the breathless misguided and false arguments our colleagues in the minority have been using to oppose this bill.
Ron Brownstein put it well in today's LA times -- the arguments put forth by President Bush and Republicans against this bill are hypocritical and amount to not much more than, as he put it, "stealing healthcare from babies."
Harsh, but basically true because that is the end result of their proposal - the continued subsidization of wealthy insurance companies and millions of chidren without health care.
We have a choice today.
We can ignore the millions of children who lack access to even the most basic health care services.
Or we can take the moral high ground and pass this bill, which will provide health care to those who need it most.
I’d like to commend Chairman Dingell, Chairman Pallone, Chairman Rangel and Chairman Stark for their hard work on this bill.
I urge all my colleagues to vote yes on the CHAMP Act and I yield back.
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Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
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