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| Wilson Encourages New Mexico Parents to Sign up for NewMexiKids |
September 28, 2007 |
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New Mexico lawmaker says bill is big win for kids and seniors and wants to see President sign it
Albuquerque, N.M. – Representative Heather Wilson (NM-01) says the House made the right decision by voting to continue the successful children’s health insurance program. Wilson, who played a key role in encouraging moderate Republican support for the bipartisan legislation, says the President should sign the bill.
Wilson visited an Albuquerque elementary school today—Adobe Acres—and encouraged New Mexico families to sign their kids up for health insurance. Wilson says parents can visit any one of their local County Income Support Division office or can simply call 1-888-997-2583.
New Mexico state officials who run the children’s health program say the bill Wilson helped push through Congress will double federal funding for the program in New Mexico, from $52 million to $116.5 million. It would also help an additional 11,000 New Mexico kids, taking the program from 19,000 participants to 30,000. For a family of three, the program helps kids whose families earn between $22,839 to $40,356 a year, according to state officials. Families earning less than $22,839 qualify for Medicaid.
“The Children’s Health Insurance Program was created 10 years ago and has reduced the number of uninsured children by nearly 25%,” says Wilson. “It’s a program that works and helps provide coverage for children through private health plans. This is a bipartisan compromise that has been worked out over a number of weeks, and I hope the President will sign it.”
“One in four New Mexicans has no health insurance, and Congresswoman Heather Wilson understands that when children are not covered, they are at risk. Her vote shows her commitment to children's health. Presbyterian Salud serves more than 4,200 children today who are eligible because of this critical SCHIP funding. If the President signs the bill that Congresswoman Wilson voted for, then these children will continue to have health coverage and thousands more like them will be eligible for the health coverage they need,” said Mary Eden, executive director of Medicaid programs for Presbyterian Health Plan.
“There are many challenges facing our country and New Mexico with respect to the uninsured. We look forward to working with Congresswoman Heather Wilson as the Congress, Governor Richardson, and others work to achieve our shared goals of quality health care coverage for all,” said Ann Wehr, MD, president and chief executive officer of Molina Healthcare of New Mexico. “We thank Congresswoman Wilson for being a leader on this issue.”
“We would like to join Representative Wilson in her support of expanding the SCHIP program,” said Marlene Baca, Lovelace Health Plan’s Chief Sales and Service Officer. “This important program insures more than 19,000 thousand New Mexico kids and is a model for how government and private insurers can work together on solutions to insure more children.”
“SCHIP is a vital program for the children of working families in New Mexico. The majority of Congress has recognized this, as well as four out of five of New Mexico’s congressional leaders. A veto by President Bush would jeopardize the health care of thousands of New Mexico children,” said Carolyn Ingram, the Human Services Department Medical Assistance Division Director.
“The New Mexico Chapter of the March of Dimes is proud to join with Congresswoman Heather Wilson in support of the CHIP Reauthorization Act recently passed by Congress, and we urge the President to sign this important legislation,” said Tony Base from the New Mexico Chapter of the March of Dimes. “We are grateful to the Congresswoman for her efforts to build bipartisan support for this legislation that will protect coverage for all children currently enrolled in CHIP, enable states to cover an additional 3.8 million uninsured children, provide states the option to cover income eligible pregnant women, and establish a new pediatric quality initiative.”
Wilson says the bill is particularly good for New Mexico because of a provision that helps New Mexico keep more of its unused SCHIP funds to bolster coverage for lower-income kids on Medicaid. The agreement allows New Mexico and 10 other states to use all of its unused SCHIP funds for children on Medicaid from families with income between 133% and 185% of the federal poverty limit. This is a major expansion of the provision originally enacted and will help New Mexico use more of its money for low-income children’s health that would otherwise be returned to the federal government.
This was the top priority of the New Mexico Medicaid agency and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for this SCHIP reauthorization. Wilson introduced a stand-alone bill earlier this year to help New Mexico keep more of its SCHIP funds for Medicaid children.
Wilson introduced the Senate bill in the House in July and led an effort to encourage House leaders to bring the Senate bill to the floor for a vote. As soon as a bipartisan compromise based on the Senate bill was announced, Wilson announced her support of the bill and worked to encourage other moderate Republicans to support the bill. Forty-five Republican House members supported the bill.
State officials say New Mexico’s SCHIP program currently covers about 8,000 children directly, while SCHIP monies are used to help cover another 11,000 children on Medicaid in New Mexico. Should the legislation that the House passed be signed into law, additional SCHIP funding would be used to help cover another 10,000-11,000 New Mexico Kids.
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