With the reauthorization and expansion of S-CHIP, nearly 4 million children across the country, whose families simply cannot afford care, will now have access to the healthy start in life that they deserve. The law will ensure that seven million children who currently participate in the program will continue to receive coverage. Importantly, quality dental coverage and mental health services will now be provided to all enrolled children.
This coverage expansion and the continued coverage of children already participating in the program could not come at more critical time. The economic downturn and the resulting jobs loss have only compounded the problem of millions of children forced to live without access to affordable health care, and the new law will help to alleviate some of this strain on families.
We in Massachusetts are fortunate that many of the children in our state are already covered, but this expansion will provide a dedicated and predictable funding stream to help cover that cost – this funding stream is a critical component of our universal Massachusetts Health Care Plan which depends upon funding from government, employers and individuals.
I know we had some spirited debates about health care during the campaign and in the coming weeks and months we will be turning our attention to national health care reform. The challenges associated with universal health care are of course considerable. I will continue to advocate for a system that provides guaranteed access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans quickly, equitably, and cost-effectively. I look forward to hearing from you as this debate continues.
ryepower12 says
While it wasn’t a big issue this past election, in the last midterm election it was huge. We wouldn’t have as many seats today if SCHIP wasn’t so important – and I’d bet that it could be as many as 5-10 seats, perhaps even including the one Ms. Tsongas currently occupies.
stomv says
The expansion did fly below the radar, relatively speaking. The times when it wasn’t expanded (Bush vetos) made much bigger news, leading to Dems gaining seats in the midterm as you point out.
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p>When it didn’t get expanded it was big news. When it did get expanded, it was overshadowed by a new POTUS and lots of financial news.
david says
is that the actual expansion — the enactment of the bill that Bush vetoed — didn’t get much ink. Of course it was a big deal in the MA-05 race. That’s why it’s all the more surprising that, when that result was finally achieved, not many people noticed.
ryepower12 says
sorry i misunderstood