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GOVERNOR SPITZER KICKS OFF CHILDREN’S HEALTH DAY AT THE STATE FAIR
Highlights Efforts to Expand Health Care to All Uninsured Children at Hall of Health

Declaring today Children’s Health Day at the New York State Fair, Governor Eliot Spitzer continued his fight to improve children’s health by continuing his push to safeguard health care coverage for every child in New York State and to provide better nutritional options in schools.

Joined at the Fair by State Senator David Valesky, State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines, and Sharon Chesna of the Mother and Babies Perinatal Network of South Central New York, the Governor continued his effort to draw attention to new federal rules that will result in more uninsured children across the nation.

Earlier this month, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a ruling governing the expansion of state plans under the federal State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The new rules will block New York’s legislatively approved expansion of children’s health insurance, as well as roll back expansions or pending plans in 17 other states and the District of Columbia. Governor Spitzer has been working with New York’s congressional delegation to reverse these rules and he has announced his intention to seek court action if necessary.

The Governor used the visit at the fair to highlight the 14,276 uninsured children in central New York. These children reside in Onondaga, Cayuga, Cortland, Madison and Oswego counties and facilitated enrollers are currently working to help enroll uninsured children in Child Health Plus and other programs. The state Department of Health is sponsoring enrollment booths and raising awareness at the State Fair.

“Every child deserves a healthy start,” said Governor Spitzer. “Earlier this year we achieved something great for the children of this state – a bipartisan agreement to provide health insurance to the 400,000 uninsured kids in New York. We are calling on the federal government to allow New York to invest in a healthy future for our children by not rolling back rules that allow us to provide this coverage.”

Sharon Chesna of the Mother and Babies Perinatal Network of South Central New York said: “The families we work with at the Mothers and Babies Perinatal Network are hard-working families who don't have access to or cannot afford family coverage through employer-based health insurance. Every child in the United States should have a right to health insurance and as the greatest country in the world, our government should make certain that it happens. Here in New York State, we are trying to make that happen and the federal government should let us.”

State Health Commissioner Richard Daines, M.D. said: “New York’s Child Health Plus Program opens the door to a lifetime of good health. It all starts with coverage and access to childhood immunizations, early developmental screenings, and continuity of care.”

The Governor’s remarks also focused on the state effort to pass a healthy schools initiative. That legislation will promote the health and well-being of students across New York by:

• Require the State Education Department, working with the Department of Health, to create regulations establishing nutritional and dietary standards for foods and beverages sold, served or offered in elementary and secondary schools;
• Require the standards to set limits on cholesterol, sodium, fat, sugar, and calories, will determine appropriate serving sizes, and will ban artificial trans fatty acids;
• Require that fruit with no added sweeteners be offered at breakfast and lunch, non-fried vegetables be offered at lunch, and half of grain products served be whole grains;
• Prohibit the sale of soda and candy in schools;
• Require school districts to establish a school breakfast program in middle schools and high schools that participate in the federal school lunch program; and
• Require districts to develop local school wellness policies to ensure community involvement in considering ways to create healthier schools, including how to increase opportunities for physical activity during the school day.

Senator Valesky said: “Our children deserve the chance to grow into healthy adults, and that only comes through good medical care and healthy nutrition. I look forward to working with the Governor to help enact the Healthy Schools Program the Governor proposed last year to improve nutrition in the schools and to help local communities shape school wellness policies.”

In April, New York State filed a State Plan Amendment with CMS, seeking federal approval to expand the income eligibility for its Child Health Plus program from the current maximum of 250 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), about $43,000 for a family of three, to 400 percent of the FPL, about $68,000 for the same family. The change would extend eligibility to an additional 60,000 uninsured children, and the cost of the monthly premium would increase based on a family’s income level.

With the expansion, virtually all children in New York State would have access to affordable health insurance through a combination of Medicaid, Child Health Plus, and private commercial insurance. The initiative is a key piece of the Governor’s health reform agenda and is the first step in the Governor’s “Partnership for Coverage” initiative to expand access to health insurance for all New Yorkers through an incremental, building block approach.