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Senator Klobuchar Backs Passage of Health Insurance Program for Children

Minnesota will receive more than $102 million to help cover uninsured children, retain waiver to cover adults Klobuchar urges President Bush to sign bill behalf of the nation's children

September 27, 2007

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar joined her Senate colleagues today in a bi-partisan effort to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for an additional five years before it expires on Sunday.  The legislation enjoyed enormous bi-partisan support clearing the Senate with ease by a vote of 67-29.  The bill would provide the necessary resources to insure the more than 6 million kids already in the program and extend health insurance to millions more.

Speaking from the Senate floor yesterday in support of the bill Klobuchar urged President Bush to rescind his veto threat saying:

“I want to remind the president that this issue isn't about scoring political points or pushing an ideology,” said Klobuchar. “It's about bettering the lives of America’s future generations. Today we are making a choice, either to support a proven, effective program that has helped children in all states or supporting the status quo, which could lead to more kids losing health care coverage, as states struggle to make ends meet.”

CHIP currently has the support of a bipartisan Congressional majority, as well as 43 governors and the majority Americans. The bill would provide states with incentives to lower the rate of uninsured children, and issue $100 million in grants for new outreach activities to states, local governments, schools, community-based organizations, safety-net providers and others.

“This is a successful program that deserves to reach even more children,” said Klobuchar.  “It’s the decent thing to do for America’s children – who, through no fault of their own, are growing up in families that can’t otherwise get affordable health insurance.  This is something that is good for all of us – and that’s because insuring our children is a smart investment.”

This past year, Minnesota received over $48 million as part of the Children’s Health Insurance Program; however some 86,000 children remain uninsured. The bill passed by the Senate today could increase enrollment in Minnesota by 35,000 by more than doubling funding for the program to $102 million dollars. 

Since Minnesota was an early leader in providing health insurance for children, they secured a waiver that allowed them to use a portion of funds to cover parents.  Research has shown that when parents have health insurance it is more likely for their children to have and retain insurance.  Today’s bill would allow Minnesota to continue to exercise this policy.

Last month the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the number of uninsured Americans rose by 2 million in the past year, with children making up more than a quarter of the increase.  Since its creation in 1997, CHIP has helped reduce the uninsured rate of children by approximately one-third. Approximately 9 million children nationally remain uninsured, and the CHIP reauthorization bill that passed today will help is critical to addressing this problem.

The House passed the bill earlier this week by a vote of 265-159, and will now be sent to the President’s desk for action.

To access radio actualities from the Senator’s floor speech today click here:

To access video and text of Senator Klobuchar’s floor speech in support of this legislation, click here:

 

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