Legislature Calls on President Bush and Congress to Restore Access to Children's Health Insurance Program

SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) today announced the Senate passed a resolution (AJR 54) calling on President Bush and the U.S. Congress to rescind a federal directive that restricts California’s authority to cover children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  If the federal directive is not rescinded, approximately 34,000 California children could lose their health insurance.  The measure was previously approved by the Assembly and will now be delivered to the president and members of Congress.

Mr. Laird’s resolution, sponsored by the 100% Campaign and PICO California, comes in response to a 2007 federal directive from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that asserted that states must comply with a series of restrictions that would impair the ability of California to continue providing health care coverage to some children with SCHIP funds under the state’s current program and hinder any expansion levels above those in the present program.  If the state is unable to meet all of these requirements, the approximately 34,000 California children could lose their health insurance.  In addition, California’s Healthy Families Program would be prohibited from using SCHIP funds to cover additional uninsured children in working families of three people or more with annual incomes as low as $44,000.

About SCHIP

SCHIP was created in 1997 as a bipartisan effort to help states cover uninsured children.  California’s Healthy Families Program, which provides coverage for nearly 900,000 children in working families whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal but cannot afford private insurance, depends on federal SCHIP dollars for two-thirds of its funding.