Andrews Says Urgent Action Needed on Children's Health Care

ANDREWS SAYS URGENT ACTION NEEDED ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE
Andrews and Vitale Seek Expanded Benefits
Call for Repeal of Rule Shrinking Benefits

CHERRY HILL -- Calling children's health care "a national priority," Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rob Andrews said yesterday he will push Congress to expand existing programs and repeal new federal rules that actually reduce health insurance for children in many states, including New Jersey.

Andrews was joined by state Sen. Joseph Vitale of Middlesex County in saying they were appalled by the new rules that shrink the number of children now covered and challenging federal and state officials to fortify their commitment to insuring all of America's children.

"We've had four decades of talk about this problem but it just keeps worsening," said Andrews, who has been a leading champion in the U.S. House of expanded health-care programs. "There is no excuse that millions of American children are not covered by the health insurance they need. I want to go to the Senate to expand the health care program, and here we are involved in a fight just to keep it from being shrunk."

"We need an aggressive policy-maker like Rob Andrews in the Senate who won't take no for an answer," said Vitale, a nationally regarded champion of ensuring health care coverage for all Americans. "We need someone in Washington in both houses of Congress fighting for New Jersey full-time and full-tilt."

Of the nearly 47 million Americans who do not have health insurance, an estimated 9.4 million are children. Seven million of them are eligible for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) but are not enrolled. Approximately 37 percent of the 6.6 million children currently enrolled in SCHIP have parents who work in businesses with fewer than 100 employees with no access to affordable coverage for themselves due to the high cost of health insurance in the private small-group and individual markets.

Last year, Congressman Andrews sponsored legislation that included a provision in the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act (CHAMP) establishing a demonstration program for up to 10 states to offer employers and their employees the option to buy into a state's children's health insurance program. The proposal, however, was not included in the final Senate-House conference report of the CHAMP Act due to claims that provision would lead to government-controlled socialized healthcare.

"This claim is simply not true since at least 48 states currently run their SCHIP programs through a private insurance provider," Andrews said. "What I am trying to do would allow a state to participate in the demonstration program if it does not impose a waiting list, cap enrollment or any other enrollment limitation on low-income children at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)."

Andrews said that over the past several months he has been speaking with employers, unions and insurance companies to devise a proposal that would allow states to move forward with their proposals to provide coverage to the uninsured, while protecting those employers that offer adequate coverage to their employees. He said he plans to introduce this legislation in the coming months, calling it "a practical and workable solution to reduce the number of the uninsured in America today."

"There is a child in America right now who needs to go to the pediatrician, but his or her parents are unable to afford healthcare coverage even though they have jobs. The key question is whether we should provide healthcare coverage for that child and family. I say without question we should."

While vowing to continue his fight for expanded health care for children, he said he will also intensify his efforts to overturn a new federal rule that denies access to millions of children. He and Vitale took aim at the rule, imposed last year by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, that requires states to cover 95% of State Children's Health Insurance Program enrollees from families earning 200% below the federal poverty level. New Jersey is among the 17 states covered by the rule.

"This is a very cynical rule that makes it practically impossible for New Jersey to insure thousands of children," Andrews said. "I'm going to take my fight against it to the Senate." Andrews said.

Vitale denounced it as "a draconian measure" that unfairly punishes children and their families who deserve access to health insurance.