Consider the Cost

Consider the cost...one year fighting the war in Iraq could insure...at the time of this writing...277,895,672 children for one year. http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War Through SCHIP, health care would be provided on a daily basis and would allow these children to develop into healthy, productive adults. We need to consider the cost.

Progress? Last Thursday, 10/25, the House voted 265-142 to approve a modified bill that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP, again falling short of the two-thirds necessary to override a veto. The revised legislation—which is similar to the bill vetoed by President Bush earlier this month—would expand SCHIP to cover 10 million children and increase spending on the program to $35 billion over five years, funded with a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax. The bill would limit coverage to children in families with annual incomes below 300% of the federal poverty level (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/25). There were also revisions clarifying policy regarding adults, undocumented workers, and higher income families. Learn the facts at: http://www.chn.org/SCHIPApropsinfo.html

The important point to note here is who voted and how. There was very little change from the previous vote. Forty-three Republicans and 222 Democrats voted in favor of the bill. Only one Democrat, Rep. Jim Marshall (Ga.), opposed the measure. None of the Republicans who voted against the previous bill voted in favor of the revised version and one Republican who voted in favor of the previous bill, Rep. Vernon Ehlers (Mich.), voted against the new version.

Republicans maintain that the revision was drafted too quickly and rushed to the floor leaving very little time for opponents to change their minds. The response from the Bush administration is even more frustrating. The administration said that the revised bill still does not ensure that low-income children will be covered first and does not provide sufficient guarantees that undocumented immigrants will not be able to enroll.

Here is where your work as an advocate is vitally important. You need to make policy makers aware of how you want them to vote. It may be just a phone call but it is how your voice is heard and your voice matters! Please call your Representative at 1-800-965-4701. (for help getting your Reps’ name, go to: http://www.house.gov/ and enter your zip code in the top left corner.) If your representative voted for SCHIP...thank them. They need to hear that you support their decision. If the voted against it, call them and tell them why you support policy to insure more that 10 million American children.

This week SCHIP will most certainly go to the Senate. Please call your Senators at: 1-800-828-0498. (for help getting your Senators’ names, select your state at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm Regardless of how they have voted in the past, call them and tell them how you want them to vote. Consider the cost. We can’t afford to compromise the health of 10 million children. Be their voice!