"Cover Kids First, Then Debate".

Re: Congress Fails to Override President's Veto of Child Health Bill

Statement By Wendy Lazarus

Founder, Co-President, The Children's Partnership

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Congress failed to override President Bush's veto of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act.

Today, the health coverage of millions of American children is in jeopardy, and millions more have been denied the opportunity to gain reliable health coverage.

The President and Congress must enact a strong reauthorization of the highly successful SCHIP program to ensure that the nearly 10 million children whose families cannot afford health care are covered.

SCHIP is a bipartisan American program that receives a fraction of the funding of other federal health programs.

Without leadership and swift action from the President and Congress, children across the country will start losing coverage. States are already making plans to limit or reduce coverage because of the failure to renew the program.

SCHIP is good public and fiscal policy. It is bipartisan, proven to work, cost-effective, and accomplishes a goal that has broad public support: making sure the nation's children have access to health care.

The President is willing to request $190 billion in additional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while proposing a fraction of that for the health of American children.

For what the United States spends on four months in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. could insure 10 million children in America for five years.

Finally, reauthorizing and extending SCHIP is the right thing to do. A child can't wait to have an ear infection treated while political games are played. That is why 43 governors support the vetoed SCHIP bill. They want to continue to move forward and cover more uninsured low-income children. To do so requires a strong reauthorization package.

We thank those members who have led the charge to reauthorize SCHIP so that it best serves children. We urge the President and all members of Congress to strengthen SCHIP, not weaken it. They must move to pass the bipartisan compromise bill so that millions of children don't go without needed health care. If the President and other House members wish to have the debate about health care spending, cover children first, then debate.

The Children's Partnership (TCP) is a national, nonprofit child advocacy organization working to ensure that all children--especially those at risk of being left behind--have the resources and the opportunities they need to grow up healthy and to lead productive lives. TCP focuses on the goals of securing health coverage for uninsured children and ensuring that the opportunities of digital technology benefit all children and families. The Children's Partnership has offices in Washington, D.C. and in Santa Monica, CA.

For more information, contact Laurie Lipper at [e-mail] or Kris Deutschman at [e-mail].

Sources

Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare (FY06 projections): Kaiser Family Foundation, The President's FY 2007 Budget Proposal: Overview and Briefing Charts (Washington, D.C.: Kaiser Family Foundation) March 2006.

Veterans Health Administration (FY06 appropriation): Veteran's Health: Department of Veteran Affairs, Strategic Plan for Employees (Washington, DC) July 2007.

Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: Josh White and Ann Scott Tyson, "Increase in War Funding Sought," Washington Post, 27 Sept. 2007: A01.

SCHIP: CBO estimate of total SCHIP outlays under H.R. 976 for FY 08: Peter R. Orszag, Letter to Honorable John D. Dingell (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Budget Office) 25 Sept 2007 (http://cbo.gov/ftpdocs/86xx/doc8655/hr976.pdf) 2.