Congressman Jeff Miller voted last Wednesday against Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. Total vote: 290 yeas to 135 nays.
The bill will have a posi tive impact on the area’s only children’s hospital – Sacred Heart. It funds State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and reauthorizes it through 2013. SCHIP, founded in 1997, currently provides health insurance coverage to 7 million children from low- and middle-income families that cannot afford private health insurance but are not eligible for Medicaid benefits.
The program is jointly financed by the federal and state governments and is administered by the states. The bill expands SCHIP eligibility, enabling states to enroll an additional 4 million children. Coverage for dental and mental health care is guaranteed. The bill also allows states to cover pregnant women.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation’s increased funding would enroll in SCHIP 1.6 million children who would otherwise be unenrolled and uninsured, would prevent 1.8 million children from losing their coverage, and would enroll about 700,000 children newly eligible for coverage under the bill’s broadened enrollment criteria.
Miller voted against this.