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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, gave the following opening statement at a subcommittee hearing on H.R. 5998, the Protecting Children's Health Coverage Act of 2008. Last week, the New Jersey congressman introduced the legislation with U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH).
"Good morning. Today the Subcommittee is meeting to review H.R. 5998, the Protecting Children’s Health Coverage Act of 2008, legislation which I introduced recently with my friend and colleague from New Hampshire, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.
"Our legislation would invalidate the so called “CMS' August 17th directive”, preventing CMS from applying any of the provisions included in the directive when it reviews state plans. It also requires CMS to review within 30 days the original proposals from states whose plans were either rejected or amended based on the directive.
"For over ten years, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has had remarkable success in covering millions of low-income children who would otherwise have no where else to turn to obtain health coverage. Thanks to SCHIP, more than seven million children annually are able to obtain health coverage and receive the medical care that they need to live happy and healthy lives.
"Last year, we tried to build on the success of SCHIP by passing the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2007, a bill that was negotiated on a bipartisan, bicameral basis. This bill would have provided States with the financial resources and tools they need to maintain their current programs, as well as help them reach millions of low-income children who are presently eligible but not enrolled.
"CHIPRA passed the House two times with significant support from both parties. Sadly, even though a majority of Americans and their representatives in Congress agreed that it was the right thing to do to cover more kids, the President disagreed. Accordingly, President Bush vetoed the CHIP reauthorization twice, and the majority of House Republicans refused to join us in overriding that veto
"But blocking the will of Congress and the American public was not enough, he also decided that he would try to single-handedly undermine the CHIP program through Administrative fiat.
"In the early evening of Friday, August 17th, 2007 during the midst of a Congressional Recess after many people had gone home for the weekend, the Bush administration issued a letter to State Health Officers that has come to be known as the “August 17th Directive”. I have taken issue with this directive on two grounds: the substance contained within it, as well as the process in which it came to be.
"The policies put forward by the administration in its directive fly in the face of SCHIP’s intended purpose, as well as what we were trying to accomplish with last year’s reauthorization. The August 17th directive would impose strict new requirements on States and beneficiaries that are not only impossible to achieve but make little, if any, sense.
"For example, under the new directive States would be prohibited from covering children in families with incomes above 250-percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), or $44,000 for a family of three, unless 95 percent of all children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP with incomes below 200-percent are already enrolled. After talking with numerous state health officials, its unclear how many states will be able to achieve this requirement.
"Even more mind-boggling, the directive prevents states from enrolling for one year eligible children who lose their private health insurance. The administration has yet to provide an answer on what these children should do during this year, other than the president’s suggestion that the uninsured can simply go to the emergency room when they need care.
"If implemented, the August 17th Directive will severely limit state flexibility, which has been a hallmark of SCHIP since its inception, and greatly restrict enrollment. We are already seeing its effects. The directive has already been used to either reject or scale back plans in states like Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and New York that had planned to expand their programs in order to provide health care coverage to tens of thousands of presently uninsured children.
"I am also alarmed about what will happen in places like my home state of New Jersey, which already cover children in this income range. If this directive were to go into effect, it would severely limit my state’s ability to develop solutions that meet the unique needs of our state’s uninsured population. According to our State officials, this directive could reduce enrollment of children in this income range by 84 percent. That is appalling.
"Aside from the substance of this directive, I am dismayed by the process in which it was developed and issued. The Bush administration broke the law when it issued this directive because it bypassed Congress and blocked any opportunity for public comment. As we will hear today, this is not just my opinion. Both GAO and CRS have concluded that the directive and the way it was issued violates the Congressional Review Act. I am looking forward to their testimony.
"In sum, I am clearly opposed to the Administration’s August 17th Directive. It does nothing to move the ball forward in terms of covering more uninsured kids, and in fact, turns the clock back on our efforts over the past ten years. For those reasons, I think that we must block the directive from taking effect, which my legislation would do, and refocus our efforts on strengthening SCHIP.
"Thank you. I now recognize our Ranking Member, Mr. Deal for five minutes for the purpose of making an opening statement."
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