Americans Support State Children's Health Insurance Program
A strong majority of Americans support strengthening the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), according to a recent poll by the New York Times and CBS:
“Eighty-four percent of those polled said they supported expanding the current program to cover all uninsured children, now estimated at more than eight million.”
SCHIP is a federal program that gives states funds to cover children who are living in poverty and do not have access to health insurance. SCHIP was first launched in 1997, and must be reauthorized this year by Congress in order to continue after September of 2007.
Children’s advocacy groups are calling for Congress to not only reauthorize SCHIP, but also to increase the funding for the program and allow more children to be eligible. This highly-effective program must be supported and strengthened, so that more children can receive the insurance they desperately need. It is encouraging to know that a large majority of the American public agrees.