Moderate Republicans ask Pelosi to Bring Senate SCHIP to House Floor
Lawmakers want to cover kids while protecting healthcare choice for seniors
Washington, DC – Sixteen
moderate Republican lawmakers today asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to
allow a House vote on the Senate version of the SCHIP bill. Wilson
introduced the Senate Bill in July as an alternative to the House CHAMP
bill, but her bill never received a vote.
Wilson led the effort to circulate
the letter, signed by: Phil English, Deborah Pryce, Wayne Gilchrest,
Ralph Regula, Tom Davis, Todd Platts, Jim Ramstad, Judy Biggert, Mark
Kirk, Rick Renzi, Jim Walsh, John McHugh, Jo Ann Emerson, Dave
Reichert, Mary Bono, Heather Wilson
The Senate legislation would
reauthorize the state children’s health insurance program for five
years and increase the authorized funding for the program by $35
billion over that time. The funding would fully fund current program
levels and allow for the enrollment of more eligible uninsured children
into the program. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the Senate
bill would decrease the number of uninsured children by 3.2 million.
“We would be supportive of
consideration of the Senate SCHIP bill and believe it is the best
vehicle for extending the program expeditiously,” said the lawmakers in
their letter to Pelosi today. “The health of the nation’s children is
too important to delay.”
The letter signals that there is
support in the House among Republicans to take up and pass the Senate
SCHIP bill, a carefully crafted bipartisan compromise that was written
by both Republican and Democratic Senators. The Senate bill was
supported by New Mexico Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman.
Authorization for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program will expire on September 30, 2007.
“It was my hope that we could have
a bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization bill that could gain the support of
Members of both parties and show the strong support that exists in
Congress for this children’s health insurance program,” says Wilson.
“Instead the House has a package that cuts Medicare benefits for
seniors to pay for children’s health care. The Senate bill makes more
sense. It’s a more modest increase and expands SCHIP without the
devil’s choice the House bill presents.”
Medicare Advantage
Wilson says increased financing for
the SCHIP shouldn’t come at the expense of the Medicare Advantage
program, which is very popular and widely used in New Mexico.
“We shouldn’t disrupt the good
coverage seniors already have. Ninety-percent of seniors are satisfied
with their Medicare Advantage coverage,” says Wilson, who has long
advocated for this program for New Mexico seniors. “I am a strong
supporter of the Medicare program and would not support cuts to
Medicare that reduce benefits for our most vulnerable seniors and
limits choices for low-income and minority senior populations.”
“There are several New Mexico
Medicare Advantage plans like Presbyterian Senior Care, Lovelace Senior
Plan, Blue Medicare PPO from BlueCross BlueShield, and the Humana Gold
Choice plans. These programs will be forced to drop seniors from
coverage or will have to pull out of the Medicare market altogether,”
warns Wilson. “They may have to reduce benefits, or pay providers less
causing seniors to lose access to the doctors they have now.”
Text of Letter to Pelosi:
September 19, 2007
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H232 The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Madam Speaker,
On September 30, 2007, authorization
for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program will expire, putting
at risk the health insurance coverage of six million children. While
the House has passed a controversial Medicare and SCHIP reauthorization
bill largely along party lines, the Senate has passed bipartisan SCHIP
reauthorization legislation without Medicare provisions. We urge you
to take up the bipartisan Senate SCHIP bill to reauthorize the program
before it expires at the end of the month.
The Senate legislation would
reauthorize the program for five years and increase the authorized
funding for the program by $35 billion over that time. The funding
would fully fund current program levels and allow for the enrollment of
more eligible uninsured children into the program. The Congressional
Budget Office estimated the Senate bill would decrease the number of
uninsured children by 3.2 million.
We would be supportive of
consideration of the Senate SCHIP bill and believe it is the best
vehicle for extending the program expeditiously. The health of the
nation’s children is too important to delay.
Sincerely,
Phil English, Deborah Pryce, Wayne
Gilchrest, Ralph Regula, Tom Davis, Todd Platts, Jim Ramstad, Judy
Biggert, Mark Kirk, Rick Renzi, Jim Walsh, John McHugh, Jo Ann Emerson,
Dave Reichert, Mary Bono, Heather Wilson
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