Bill Provides Funding for CHIP Community Health Centers and Hospitals
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Today Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX) voted to pass the CHAMPION Act which extends funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through the next five years and for community health centers for two years. The bill would also delay the onset of cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments until Oct. 1 2019.
The legislation which passed the House of Representatives and is headed to the Senate will renew the CHIP program through fiscal year 2022 and it will protect the nine million children currently covered by CHIP from losing access to health care.
As a legislator who understands firsthand the struggles of uninsured families Congressman Cuellar has long been a pioneer on issues of childrens health insurance. While serving in the Texas State House of Representatives he coauthored legislation to establish Texas first CHIP pilot program which was launched at Farias Elementary School in Laredo. The program proved so successful that it served as the basis for Texas statewide CHIP program.
CHIP is especially critical in Texas where 10 percent of all children had no health insurance as of 2016 one of the worst rates of coverage in America today.
One of my top priorities has always been to increase access to affordable health care Congressman Cuellar said. As the son of migrant parents who could not afford health insurance for their children I understand firsthand the struggles of uninsured families. Thats why in 1995 while serving in the Texas State House of Representatives I authored legislation to establish Texas first Childrens Health Insurance Program at Farias Elementary School in Laredo Texas. The program proved so successful that it served as the basis for Texas Statewide Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) program which Congressman Cuellar cosponsored as a state legislator. It is unacceptable that a quarter of a million Texas children continue to struggle with medical issues such as chronic illnesses and injury without health insurance.
While my Republican colleagues inserted provisions into the bill that will make it more difficult for some Americans to access Medicaid and CHIP childrens health insurance is too important to jeopardize in the name of partisan politics.
Unfortunately the bill reduces funding for the Preventative and Public Health Fund which supports prevention grants from the CDC to communities for infectious diseases and chronic illness prevention. Todays vote will not be the last vote on this legislation. Congressman Cuellar will continue to work to improve the bill.
While I disagree with the prevention fund reductions childrens health insurance is too important to jeopardize in the name of partisan politics. I will continue to work diligently to ensure critical health programs like CHIP and community health centers receive adequate funding without jeopardizing the health of Americans who benefit from these vital disease and illness prevention grants.
The State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was launched in 1997 through a bipartisan effort by the Republican Congress and the Democratic White House. It established a federal-state partnership to provide health coverage to children from working families that earned too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid but too little to afford private health insurance.
