$50 billion in new funding puts the United States on the road to covering all children
On Friday March 23, the U.S. Senate approved a budget that includes $50 billion in new funding for reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This funding should provide room for states to offer health coverage to as many as 5 million uninsured children, while protecting the coverage for another 1.5 million who depend on SCHIP.
The floor debate on SCHIP funding, and votes on key amendments demonstrated significant bipartisan support for $50 billion for SCHIP expansion. Twelve Republicans and 46 Democrats supported an amendment by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to set aside revenue from an increase in the federal tobacco tax for children’s health.
The fight to cover all children is not over. Congress must still reauthorize the SCHIP program. As part of PICO’s Road Map to Covering All Children by 2012, the PICO network will be organizing to make sure that SCHIP is rewritten to include strong incentives for states to enroll and retain children. PICO will also be fighting for changes in the law that would allow states to provide health coverage to pregnant women and documented immigrant children.
To make sure that states use the new federal dollars, PICO federations are helping to lead state-level campaigns in 10 states to expand coverage for children.