Children's Health Insurance Program

“ We have to ask what we can do to provide more Americans with preventative care, which would mean fewer doctor's visits and less cost down the road. We should make sure that every single child who's eligible is signed up for the children's health insurance program, and the federal government should make sure that our states have the money to make that happen. ”

“ I hope we can now work together to produce a good bill that puts poorer children first, that moves adults out of a program meant for children, and that does not abandon the bipartisan tradition that marked the enactment of SCHIP. Our goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage, not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage. ”

“ That's why I deeply oppose the Republican plan to repeal the guarantee of quality health care for our children.
For three decades through the Medicaid program, we have had a national commitment that poor children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and older Americans will not be denied health care simply because they can't afford it. That means today that working parents know in the awful event their child is disabled and their insurance and income won't cover the care, they'll get some help to keep their children at home. ”

“ In recent years, as the cost of private insurance has increased, States have raised eligibility levels to offer health care coverage to more families, with families paying a share of the cost based on their income. ”

“ CHILDREN WITH INCOME NOT ABOVE THRESHOLD- If the income of a child does not exceed the screening threshold, the child is deemed to satisfy the income eligibility criteria for medical assistance under this title regardless of whether such child would otherwise satisfy such criteria. ”

“ IDENTIFICATION OF INITIAL CORE MEASURES.—In consultation with the individuals and entities described in subsection (b) (3) , the Secretary shall identify existing quality of care measures for children that are in use under public and privately sponsored health care coverage arrangements, or that are part of reporting systems that measure both the presence and duration of health insurance coverage over time. ”