Congressman Davis Applauds Adoption of Pregnant Women Provision in House-Passed SCHIP LegislationFebruary 4, 2009

Washington, D.C. Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. The legislation was signed into law this afternoon by President Obama.

The four-year reauthorization of the SCHIP legislation will provide many children with needed healthcare coverage. As of 2007, 41,000 Tennesseans were covered under SCHIP. Over 45,000 additional Tennessee children will become eligible for coverage under this reauthorization. SCHIP was created in 1997 to provide health care coverage for children in families that earn too little to afford health insurance for their children themselves but too much to qualify for Medicaid.

Congressman Davis applauded the addition of some pregnant women in the program who previously were not covered under SCHIP. This addition is a key provision in Congressman Davis's Pregnant Women Support Act, a bill introduced earlier this year that would provide services to pregnant mothers with the intention of reducing abortion by ninety percent within ten years. Current law only allows states to cover pregnant women in the SCHIP program through a waiver, which can be a lengthy, complicated negotiation, or states can move to simply cover the fetus.

"What we need are real solutions to reducing the number of abortions in America, and the inclusion of pregnant women in this legislation is a step in the right direction," said Congressman Davis.

Additionally, Congressman Davis was strongly in favor of a provision, added in the Senate, which would provide a two-year extension in funding for "disproportionate share hospitals," or DSH payments. These payments ensure that states will receive funding to help compensate hospitals that treat patients who are either uninsured or are on Medicaid. This is of particular help to Tennessee, which does not have a permanent allotment for DSH payments.

The Pregnant Women Support Act provides a comprehensive solution to many of the challenges that may lead women to seek abortion services and aims to reduce the number of abortions in America by 95% over the next ten years. Of the 1.29 million abortions performed annually, 73% of women seeking abortions list economic factors as contributing to the decision to have an abortion. To counter this, the Pregnant Women Support Act includes language that lowers the cost of bringing a child to full term. The bill also seeks to support victims of domestic violence.