Cantwell Urges Her Colleagues to Expand Access to Quality and Affordable Care for Nation's Children
Supports Measure Preserving Current Enrollment in SCHIP; Shields Doctors from Taking Cuts in Medicare Payments
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced Senate approval of legislation to provide relief to millions of hard-working American families by extending the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through March 31, 2009. The program is set to expire on December 21, 2007 barring House of Representatives action, which is expected shortly. The measure also protects doctors in Washington state from taking a scheduled 10 percent cut in their Medicare payments in the New Year.
“I am pleased that the Senate acted to keep the program going for another year and extend the current fix giving Washington partial access to its federal funding for low-income children,” said Cantwell. “With this temporary measure in place, we can focus once more on enacting comprehensive health care reforms, providing the state with full access to its federal SCHIP allotment, and reversing recent Administrative policy that prevents the state from covering more kids.”
Cantwell has worked for years to cover more uninsured children in the state by correcting a flaw in the program that has prevented most of its federal SCHIP dollars from being spent. Under current SCHIP law, Washington state is prohibited from utilizing most of its funds for children previously covered under Medicaid, which it expanded just before the program’s creation in 1997. This has effectively penalized the state for being progressive on children’s health coverage. To date, Washington has been forced to hand back almost $200 million in federal funding—all of it money the state could have used to cover uninsured children.
Because of a fix that the senator helped secure, Washington is able to access 20 percent of its annual SCHIP allotment for children covered under the previous Medicaid expansion. This fix, which must be reauthorized every year, has brought the state over $50 million in added funding since 2004. The fix was included in this legislation. Senator Cantwell is now working to give Washington full access to its SCHIP funds, a change that would help cover half of the state’s 73,000 uninsured children. This “100 percent fix” was included in two reauthorization bills that Congress passed this year. Both were vetoed by President Bush.
###
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced Senate approval of legislation to provide relief to millions of hard-working American families by extending the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through March 31, 2009. The program is set to expire on December 21, 2007 barring House of Representatives action, which is expected shortly. The measure also protects doctors in Washington state from taking a scheduled 10 percent cut in their Medicare payments in the New Year.
“I am pleased that the Senate acted to keep the program going for another year and extend the current fix giving Washington partial access to its federal funding for low-income children,” said Cantwell. “With this temporary measure in place, we can focus once more on enacting comprehensive health care reforms, providing the state with full access to its federal SCHIP allotment, and reversing recent Administrative policy that prevents the state from covering more kids.”
Cantwell has worked for years to cover more uninsured children in the state by correcting a flaw in the program that has prevented most of its federal SCHIP dollars from being spent. Under current SCHIP law, Washington state is prohibited from utilizing most of its funds for children previously covered under Medicaid, which it expanded just before the program’s creation in 1997. This has effectively penalized the state for being progressive on children’s health coverage. To date, Washington has been forced to hand back almost $200 million in federal funding—all of it money the state could have used to cover uninsured children.
Because of a fix that the senator helped secure, Washington is able to access 20 percent of its annual SCHIP allotment for children covered under the previous Medicaid expansion. This fix, which must be reauthorized every year, has brought the state over $50 million in added funding since 2004. The fix was included in this legislation. Senator Cantwell is now working to give Washington full access to its SCHIP funds, a change that would help cover half of the state’s 73,000 uninsured children. This “100 percent fix” was included in two reauthorization bills that Congress passed this year. Both were vetoed by President Bush.
###
Next Article Previous Article
