Kucinich: “Victory for Health Care for All Children”

SCHIP Authorizes Health Care for Children of Legal Immigrants

Washington, Jan 14 -

The House of Representatives today passed legislation that included a provision that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to allow states to offer health care to the children of legal immigrants. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who fought for its inclusion in a similar bill in the previous Congress, made the following statement.

“Everyone deserves health care. This bill is a major step in the right direction. Allowing states to choose to give health care to children born outside the US but now here legally is the right thing to do. It’s right for the kids who will get better care and it’s right for the states who save money by moving routine care from the emergency room to the doctor’s office.”

When the provision was omitted from a previous version of an SCHIP reauthorization bill in 2007, Kucinich objected stating, “I cannot support legislation which extends health coverage to some children while openly denying it to other children.”

“This bill is a major victory for uninsured children of Ohio when it is needed the most,” Kucinich said. The State of Ohio is struggling to expand coverage for up to 50,000 kids at a time when the demand for safety net health care is rising because of the recession.

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