WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins today stood up for children in low-income families by voting against H.R. 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act, which would undercut the program’s mission to provide health coverage to low-income children, while increasing the opportunity for fraud by enabling illegal immigrants to enroll in SCHIP.

“One of my top priorities is to ensure that children from low-income families in Kansas and across the country can get the health care coverage they need,” said Jenkins. “This bill, which the Democratic leadership has turned into a political pawn, compromises that health care coverage by expanding SCHIP far beyond its original intent. We need to refocus the SCHIP program on the people it was created for – low-income children.”

Under current law, families whose income level is up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) are eligible for SCHIP. H.R. 2 expands coverage to allow families with income levels up to 300 percent of the FPL to be eligible for SCHIP. According to the Kansas Health Institute, approximately half of the uninsured children in Kansas are eligible but not enrolled in SCHIP. Jenkins believes these children need to be enrolled before expanding the program to include higher income families.

The bill also severely weakens current law requiring states to document the identity and citizenship status of applicants, enhancing the opportunity for illegal immigrants to fraudulently enroll in SCHIP.

In addition, the bill unfairly discriminates against physician-owned hospitals by prohibiting expansion of any existing physician-owned hospitals and banning any new facilities to be built.

“Physician-owned hospitals provide valuable services to the folks of the Second Congressional District, and banning any new facilities or prohibiting the expansion of existing facilities would have detrimental consequences on access to the high-quality health care that Kansans currently have,” said Jenkins.

Jenkins supported for the Republican alternative that would have fully funded SCHIP for the next seven years for families who cannot afford private insurance.

“I am extremely disappointed that the Democrat Leadership forced a vote on H.R. 2, a political move that compromises the valuable health coverage SCHIP provides for America’s neediest children,” said Jenkins. “Because the current SCHIP does not expire for three months, there was ample time to hold insightful hearings on this important issue. Instead, we were forced to vote today on a bill that simply expands SCHIP without first covering children in the neediest families. This is a missed opportunity and a disservice to the families who depend on the Democratic Congress getting it right.”