PRINTER'S NO. 1401
No. 171 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY O'PAKE, MUSTO, COSTA, FONTANA, FERLO, MELLOW, STACK, KITCHEN, LAVALLE, LOGAN, WOZNIAK, WASHINGTON, BOSCOLA, C. WILLIAMS, HUGHES AND RAFFERTY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
REFERRED TO BANKING AND INSURANCE, SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
A RESOLUTION 1 Memorializing the President of the United States and the Centers 2 for Medicare and Medicaid Services to rescind certain State 3 Children's Health Insurance Program restrictions. 4 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania became a model for the nation on 5 December 2, 1992, with the enactment of the State's landmark 6 Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to provide quality 7 health care coverage to Pennsylvania children from families who 8 earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough money 9 to afford private insurance; and 10 WHEREAS, The Federal Government followed suit in 1997 and 11 became a partner with the states in helping to insure uninsured 12 children with its enactment of the Federal State Children's 13 Health Insurance Program; and 14 WHEREAS, More than 640,000 Pennsylvania children, who 15 otherwise would have gone without health care coverage, have 16 been helped by CHIP since its inception in 1992; and 17 WHEREAS, On October 23, 2006, the Pennsylvania Senate voted 18 50 to 0 to pass legislation (HB 2699), which became Act 136 of
1 2006, to expand Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance 2 Program to continue to provide free coverage to children from 3 families with income below 200% of the Federal poverty level, to 4 provide subsidized coverage on a sliding scale to families 5 earning between 200% and 300% of the Federal poverty level and 6 to provide "at cost" CHIP coverage to families with income over 7 300% of the Federal poverty level; and 8 WHEREAS, Today, Pennsylvania's expanded "Cover All Kids" 9 program, which was implemented following approval by the Federal 10 Government, provides quality health insurance coverage to more 11 than 164,400 Pennsylvania children; and 12 WHEREAS, On August 17, 2007, Dennis Smith, Director of the 13 Center for Medicaid and State Operations of the Centers for 14 Medicare and Medicaid Services, issued a new rule to 15 Pennsylvania and other states that would impose new restrictions 16 on CHIP eligibility and limit the scope of Pennsylvania's "Cover 17 All Kids" initiative; and 18 WHEREAS, George W. Bush, the President of the United States, 19 has threatened to veto compromise legislation emerging in 20 Congress that would reauthorize the Federal State Children's 21 Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and provide the states with 22 needed Federal support to responsibly help insure more uninsured 23 children; therefore be it 24 RESOLVED, That the Senate of Pennsylvania does hereby 25 memorialize the President of the United States and the Centers 26 for Medicare and Medicaid Services to rescind the regulatory 27 SCHIP restrictions as enunciated in the August 17, 2007, letter 28 from Mr. Dennis Smith of the Center for Medicaid and State 29 Operations to Pennsylvania and other states; and be it further 30 RESOLVED, That the Senate of Pennsylvania respectfully urge 20070S0171R1401 - 2 -
1 the President not to veto compromise legislation that would 2 provide the partnership Federal support states need to expand 3 health insurance coverage for more children; and be it further 4 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to 5 the Honorable George W. Bush, the President of the United 6 States, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, to 7 the Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, the Secretary of the United 8 States Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence 9 Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201, and to all of Pennsylvania's 10 representatives in the United States Senate and the United 11 States House of Representatives. I19L82JAM/20070S0171R1401 - 3 -