From the National Rehabilitation Association's Legislative Network
On January 29, the U.S. Senate passed, on a roll call vote of 66-32, The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (SCHIP). The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of this legislation on January 14, 2009. The SCHIP program had been scheduled to expire on March 31 of this year. Both bills extend the program for 4-1/2 years and renew the SCHIP program.
Highlights of the bill include continuing coverage for 7 million children currently enrolled in SCHIP, plus an additional 4 million children who do not currently have insurance. The Senate version of the legislation, like its House counterpart, abolishes the five-year waiting period and allows States to offer coverage immediately to children of legal immigrants.
The bill:
- Gives States the option of providing dental coverage to some families with slightly higher incomes and provides additional money to States to recruit and enroll eligible children.
- Caps the Federal government’s contribution for children in families above 300 percent of the poverty level.
Both bills are headed to a Conference Committee where they will iron out the differences of the House and Senate versions. The President is expected to sign this legislation, once the Conference Report is completed and passed by both Houses of Congress.
33 comments:
I think this bill is great. So many children are without medical coverage and that should not be the case with children. I think this is why many hospital emergency rooms are packed to the maximum. When Clinton was President, I believe he started a great thing passing a bill for the CHIP program...I think it was Former President Bush that did away with the program. Im so glad that COngress is bringing it back to help all those in need. I think the only draw back to having more help for needy families is that welfare was made to help get people out of living in poverty and these programs usually help keep the people in. To qualify for programs like this you need to make lower than a certain amount a year which is never enough to support a family. So to keep the welfare services like CHIP that people are receiving they need to stay under a certain amount leaving them to never pick themselves up.
Aissa S.
I agree with Aissa that this bill is great. It is good to know that families with children will qualify for medical as well as dental assistance. Parents will not have to worry about insurance coverage for their children. The fact they are continuing and adding coverage to 4 million more children is very good news. With this bill more children are given a chance for the correct medical coverage that is needed. I think a lot of times children do not get the treatment needed because it is to expensive and parents can not afford the costs. The fact that they are raising the federal cigarette tax is a good way to raise money to help pay for assistance as well as to discourage smokers from continued smoking.
Marla S.
This is very good news. The bill is great. This will benefit many families that cannot afford to enroll their children under their medical coverage and will save them alot of money. Children in particular need to have good medical coverage since they are more exposed to bacteria and virsus. I am happy to hear that children of migrants will immediately be approved into this kind of medical program. I agree that they should raise the federal cigarette tax, that way individuals that smoke will become discouraged about smoking. I rather have that money go to a good medical cause than have it be wasted on people smoking and damaging their own health.
Daisy Hdz
It sounds like is going to be a good bill for people that have children. sometimes it sounds to good to be true. It is a good idea to raise taxes for cigarettes to pay for services but i also feel that they should raise taxes on alcohol. we will see how many people affects them or benefits them. Angie K
I believe that this is a great choice giving all children medical help if needed. This gives all the children a chance to be healthy and live a happy life. I’m glad that their raising the taxes on cigarettes and using that money for these types of programs. The reason I believe this because actually they don’t care about their health if they smoke but kids have their whole future ahead of them. But what happens if people quit buying cigarettes due to the recession does that means their not going to be any funds for this program?
~Violeta M~
I do not think that the tax raise or the recession would make anybody quit smoking (i hope at least it discourage them)but it was a really good idea that the government is now taking money from smokers to give to a population that certainly needs the money. Keeping the bill working for 4 1/2 more years would really help out many families that are struggling right now with money due to recession. Now the kids of such families will be able to go to the doctor as needed and parents will be able to have money for other important things.
Also, I think it is just fair that immigrant kids now would have access to medical coverage, there is no reason for them not be covered by such programs if they live in the U.S and some are part of the people living in poberty.
Grace R.
I think this is great and that it will work out just fine. The government needs to help those who are in need, sometimes we come across having to go to the doctor for whatever reason and it gets expensive. Its about time someone reached out their hand to help those who work hard. Health insurance is getting more and more expensive as time goes and depending on the illness can cost a good chunk of change. But as for raising the tax on cigarettes I am not so sure about; it will just encourage others to buy and then slowly people will stop and the money that comes from that will be scarce. I guess we will just have to see how that goes and I pray that it goes well and succeeds. Unlike other bills that get passed, of which dont last as long as expected. I am excited to see this bill go far and God willing make a difference in the lives of others.
Victoria G.
i think the passing of this health legislation is great. there are many families that cant afford insurance for their children therefore never go see a doctor or dentist..there are so many children with out insurance.now the parents dont have to worry about their children getting sick and not having medical coverage and not being able to take them to the hospital..the tax is a good way of helping raise revenue to help pay for the extra costs n coverage for the children......
I believe that the Children's Health Insurance Program is very essential to our society. There are many families that due to the high cost of insurance are not able to afford it, leaving their children with no health insurance. This program will help many families in need. I am pleased to know that four million more children as mentioned in the article will be helped as well.
Another issue that I am glad to know about is that the Federal cigarette tax will be increased to cover the Children's Health Insurance Program. I believe it is a great idea that way that tax can be utilized for something positive that will help many families.
Brenda H. (Case Management I)
Reauthorization of this bill is great news to me personally. Superior Health Plan Network (SCHIP) has been a great asset in my family. Being a single parent of two daughters this coverage has allowed me to have them insured. SCHIP allows more coverage such as dental and eye exams. With private insurance I would not get that extra coverage. Money is tight being head of household, with one income. This coverage has allowed me to have great care for my girls. I was concerned about the expiration of this coverage in March. This puts me at ease knowing my girls will have continued coverage. Some people are embarrassed to admit to having SCHIP (my girls) but times are tough and my ex husband does not pay child support or health. As for the Federal cigarette tax being raised that is good news. Now I really have an incentive to quit smoking.
Rebecca Griffith
I think bill is great! I think that this will help many children that parents cant afford to pay health care. I think that it is great that they are raising the taxes in cigarettes to pay the extension. I think that they are so many other things that can be taxed more in order to raise money for more programs. I think that children and many other people have the right to have medical coverage. For example, my parents have to go to Mexico to get checked because they cant afford medical coverage here. I am glad that this bill has passed. This is a good to start for many other good thing to come.
I do appreciate this bill for what it is meant to do. I think I heard somewhere that many people are against this bill because it will cover 1.2 million children that are eligible for private insurance. They do not like it because it is a step toward a socialist nation and the government controlling the nation. They believe if someone is eligible for insurance through their company then they should get it from there. The truth is that for a lot of people the insurance that is offered through their job is just too expensive. Take me for instance, I am a teacher. I make decent money, but if I wanted to cover my children under insurance it would cost me $460 a month. Not to mention all the co-pays that I pay, the deductible, and on and on. So to me, I rather pay out of pocket when they do need it. It saves me money. Maybe under this bill my children will be covered and have decent health insurance. I feel that I am paying for it anyway every month from my paycheck. Why should my children be able to use it? There are millions of kids out there going without insurance because their parents can not afford the work insurance and they do not qualify for CHIPS. Some of those kids do not even qualify for the private insurance because they have a preexisting condition. I think this bill being extended is a good thing and will help a lot of kids get the medical coverage they need.
Celena M.
Having a program that helps children and gives them health benefits is a great idea. So many children in the United States do not have insurance and because of this many of them are left untreated and remain with health problems. I hope this new program really works out and really helps children that have not recieved the adequate treatment that is needed. Priscilla F.
I am on the fence about this legislation. Although, I feel it is important for children to have medical coverage, it is also important for parents to think about the needs their children will have before having them. The ability to reproduce is not a God given right, it is a huge responsibility. As a smoker I don't mind paying a higher tax for my bad habit. However, I also feel we should charge a higher tax on fast food, alcohol, junk food,etc. We have an obesity epidemic and too many children are being diagnosed with commonly adult illnesses, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Our society needs to do a better job of practicing healthy habits. It is very expensive to treat these illness and aggravating to think that they are preventable. I also feel that men need to step up and do a better job of supporting their children. As Rebecca stated, she is raising her two daughters without the support of their father. I'm glad SCHIP can provide some help for her. We should charge deadbeat dads higher taxes too.
Rosie
i believe that everyone should be able to qualify for SCHIP. i also believe that people that work should have a priority on this plan. all week i pass through the section 8 houses and i see all this brand new cars, women watching television,and children playing but there is usually few men around. I believe that people should have a sense of supporting thier youngs (off-spring) a lot of women live off thier children's father child support and do not even look for part-time jobs. SCHIP should go to people that at least have a part-time job and do not depend on the government to support them. AK
I agree AK. I should have said deadbeat moms should also be charged higher taxes. Or at least given some sort of incentive to stop having children they can't support without govt assistance. It's unfortunate the children have to pay the consequences for the irresponsibility of adults. I keep saying we should have a spaying and neutering program for people.
I'm so glad to hear the approvement of this bill which is beneficial for millions children in this country. I love the idea to increase the tax of cigarettes for the program. Even though someone mentioned the concern whether people are going to buy cigarettes in ression period, I do think it will help to raise money to some extent. since i do not believe people are able to quit smoking in a short period with less money. besides, even if they do quit, it is good for smoking peoples' health.
Yuanyuan Li
Passing the children's health legislation is a great idea the SCHIP will not only help the already insured but are willing to add more children to their program. The idea of increasing the cost of cigarettes is also a great idea since the there are so many smokers out there it is only beneficial that the extra money will help out the children.
Like most of the previous posts, I also agree that it is a great idea to bring back the CHIP program. So many people in our country are battling sicknesses and many of them cannot afford the medical bills. When it comes to children, it is really out of their hands since they are so young and vulnerable. I do not know the specific details or requirements to be eligible for the CHIP program, but since we've had it in the past, I'm sure it was doing more good than harm. If not, they would not be thinking about bringing it back to begin with. After reading up on all the new bills and programs that our new administration is bringing to the surface, I feel more positive for the future of our country and for those who need the most help. Mariel G
CHIPS to begin with was a good idea the only problem was that only certain children were allowed into the program and the space was very limiting. Passing SCHIP will not only help the already insured children but are allowing more children to join. SCHIP has also revised it program to benefit them the kids. Increasing the cost of cigarettes is very beneficial since there are a lot of smokers out there. : )
Joana J.
From experience I know that not having health insurance as a child was a huge hardship especially when it was time to pay those coslty bills. Iam thankful that many children are now able to have some type of insurance.Especially now that the economy is in trouble ,not alot of people can afford that. Even tough with the children's health legislation cigaretts will go up I feel that health is more important than smoking.
Elizabeth M
I do agree with this new bill it will help families with childen, there is nothing as heart breaking as having your little one ill and you are self medicating them because you can't afford to get them to see a doctor. The other good thing is about raising the federal cigarette tax that will really discourage people from smoking, I also do agree with Aissa about the draw back, this will make so many people not wanting to go back to work.
Anthonia F.
I'm glad to hear that the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Children's Health Insurance Program. This will definitely help the children that do not have insurance and will continue to help the ones that are already enrolled in SCHIP. These children need all the medical and dental care possible to help keep them in good health because they have their whole lives to look forward to. This bill helps especially when they take off the limitation where it use to be that you could go to the doctor only about 3 times or 2 times a month. This does help a great deal because a child might actually get sick even more than 5 times a month, even when a child is very delicate. Also with the highering of the cigarette tax will help to benefit this bill. Smokers might be upset by this higher tax on their cigarettes but what they need to understand is that they are helping children whose parents do not have enough money to get them dental or health care benefits. Plus it is their choice to smoke and buy cigarettes. But what will happen when people who buy cigarettes stop buying cigarettes because it got to be to expensive will this program stop and the children will no longer receive the benefits or will the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Representatives find some other way to continue with this program.
R. Hernandez
This bill is great it will really help the children who need the medical coverage. It will especially help their families who can't afford to have thier kids on their insurance. Raising the tax on cigarettes was also a good way to pay for the services they should also raise taxes on other things like alcohol or other items people use daily.
Gerardo G.
The bill that U.S. Senate is a great opportunity for children that are not getting the proper medical care that they need. Now, paying a visit to the doctor's office has beomce extremly expensive. I think that the government did good, by raising the price on cigarettes, that will maybe discourage smokers not to smoke as much. Overall, I think the bill will be a useful aspect for the children of our nation.
Vanessa G.
I am totally in favor of all this. I recently quit working to focus on school and take care of my 2 year old so this helps me out a lot right now. I know there are other people in my situation that will benefit from this too.
Vanessa M.
This bill is great for all those who have children. This gives children the opportunity to be healthy. Many Children don’t have any type of insurance because their parents can’t afford it, but this bill will change things and children will benefit and parents will be helped. I am glad that the Federal cigarette tax will increase to cover the Children’s Health Insurance Program; it will be utilized in a positive way.
Daphne J.
After reading this blog I could say that this is one of the few cases that I agree with new legislations. I think health insurance assistance legislations are very important especially children’s health, which is the priority and purpose of this new legislation. The senate’s authorization to pass this bell gives the community that benefits from this assistance a sense of relief and hope in knowing that their children would be able to continue with their treatments or medications necessary for their well being. Despite, the fact that the approval of this legislation by the senate represents an accomplishment for the community that benefits from this governmental assistance and for the legislative members that contributed to the creation and processing of the bill I think it could provoke commotion in the cigarette community. People that are heavy smokers might strongly oppose it because they might see it as an injustice toward this community due to that the money necessary to cover the SCHIP program would be collected from federal cigarette tax, which would be raised and which would be paid by cigarette smokers.
Esly B.
In my own perspective, I think all children should have some kind of coverage, medical wise. This bill couldn't have been better helping all those people who really need the help. Not only does this bill give children a better chance of being healthy, but an advantage as well for those parents who cannot afford health coverage.
Anel C.
i think its great that the US Senate has passed this legislation. I am still not ready to have kids yet though! HAHA.
I think its good that they are going to tax cigarettes because i feel that it really wont affect me because i dont smoke! But i wouldnt mind contributing to this bill, i think its great.
Andrea H.
From my point of view, all children are suppose to have some kind of health insurance. The cost of this should not matter. I think this is a great bill, very much like the CHIP program.
Y. Torres
this makes me feel great as a mother. i have a child and its good to know that we have this help of medical coverage. we dont have to worry about insurances.
jacklyn g.
This is actually a great bill because it doesn't give free reign for anyone just to get money out of it, but rather it talks about capping the amount of money, but also allowing dental plans for people with higher income.
I also do like that instead of it being an increase in sales tax, or income tax, it's an increase on the cigarette tax. It's kinda ironic, in a good way that they are raising the taxes on a pack of cigarettes because smoking cigs is one of the deadliest killers of Americans. So, it will hopefully lower the amount of cigarettes that people smoke and raise the money to give people the help they need.
John-Robert I.
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