Washington, DC – Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA) highlighted the plight of uninsured children and the importance of the landmark State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, during "Cover the Uninsured Week".  The week is an annual effort by a coalition of labor, business, medical and advocacy groups to raise awareness of the 45 million Americans who lack health insurance and seek solutions to this significant national problem.  This year the focus is on children.  (http://www.covertheuninsured.org)

“Nine million American children -- including more than one million California kids – do not have health insurance,” stated Rep. Baca.  “In a country as wealthy as ours, that is a national disgrace, and yet this would be even worse if it were not for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.” 

Rep. Baca declared, “Congress must reauthorize the program this year, and we must significantly expand health care coverage for America’s children.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program – or “SCHIP” -- was established by Congress in 1997 to expand health care coverage for children.  It provides matching funds to states to help them provide health care coverage for children living in families that are earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance.  Since it was created in 1997, SCHIP has been a successful, cost-effective program.  Currently, more than 6 million children are enrolled in SCHIP.

California uses SCHIP funding for a variety of programs, including the Healthy Families program, Medi-Cal associated programs, and Access for Infants & Mothers (AIM).  Healthy Families (http://www.healthyfamilies.ca.gov/hfhome.asp) covered 770,000 children as of teh end of 2006.

Rep. Baca said, “SCHIP has been successful in bringing down the rate of uninsured children.  California’s uninsured rate for children fell from 21% in 1998 to 14% in 2005.  This is a big improvement and shows the value of the program.  Of course, the number of uninsured children in our state and our nation is still unacceptably high, so Congress must strengthen SCHIP this year.”

A report from the University of California at Los Angeles indicated that in 2001, 20 percent of residents of San Bernardino and Riverside counties lacked health insurance coverage.

“Health care coverage makes a big difference in someone’s life, and this is particularly true for a child.  Children who have health insurance are better prepared to learn in school and better equipped to succeed in life,” pointed out Rep. Baca.

Children without health insurance are twice as likely not to receive any medical care in a given year as children with health care coverage.  In addition, more than one in three uninsured children do not have a personal doctor or nurse – significantly higher than the rate for children with health care coverage (13.5%). 

“Unfortunately, the President’s budget proposes to significantly underfund the State Children’s Health Insurance Program over the next five years – not even providing enough funding to maintain coverage for those children already enrolled,” Rep. Baca stated.  “According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, under the President’s budget, more than 1 million children will lose coverage.”

“In sharp contrast, I am proud of the budget that the House passed in March that creates a fund to provide up to $50 billion in additional resources to expand children’s health care coverage – and does so without adding to the federal deficit,” Rep. Baca added. 

Rep Baca concluded, “Congress must pass a strong SCHIP reauthorization bill this summer to  ensure that all children currently enrolled can remain in the program and to make progress in covering more uninsured children – moving us towards the goal of all of America’s children having the coverage they need to stay healthy.  Our children deserve no less.”