Investment in SCHIP Is A Necessity (Rep. Steve Cohen)

This week’s passage of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) legislation is a victory for our nation’s children. I hope the President will reconsider his plan to veto the bill. CHIP will provide incentives to states to get children, already eligible but not enrolled, into the program. According to a new Urban Institute study, roughly 70 percent of children who will benefit from CHIP come from families with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level. Investment in the health of our nation’s children is imperative and passage of CHIP is the morally correct action. To think that in a nation of our wealth and resources there are millions of children of working families who can’t see doctors when they should or obtain the medicine they need is a disgrace. I hope the President will search his heart and reconsider.