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GOVERNOR SPITZER AND SENATOR CLINTON CALL ON PRESIDENT BUSH TO REVERSE FEDERAL POLICY DENYING HEALTH CARE COVERAGE TO THOUSANDS OF UNINSURED CHILDREN
Spitzer and Clinton Joined by Families Affected by Bush Action

Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on President George W. Bush to remove burdensome rules instituted by his administration to deny 400,000 New York children health care. They were joined by the families of children at risk of losing the health care they are set to receive through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) on September 1 unless the President acts to reverse this new policy.

“In New York, SCHIP has been immensely successful in providing health insurance to the most vulnerable children,” said Governor Spitzer. “The state has made great strides in achieving a non-partisan solution for providing universal coverage for every child, but the President’s actions threaten to undo this good work and increase the ranks of the uninsured. Senator Clinton and I will continue to fight the battles that matter most – standing up for New Yorkers who work hard and play by the rules, yet still cannot afford health care for their children.”

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who helped launch this program during the Clinton Administration has advocated for the expansion of the SCHIP program in an effort to cover every child; also introducing legislation with Congressman John Dingell to provide access to affordable quality healthcare coverage to all uninsured children.

Senator Clinton said: “We should not punish children and their families who need healthcare coverage, but that is exactly what the President is proposing. The President's policy would undermine efforts to provide healthcare for uninsured children and New York will be especially hard hit if the President's plan to scale back CHIP is not reversed. This Administration is looking right through millions of parents who are nervous that their children will get sick and they won't be able to afford the medical bills. The actions of President Bush are not only an attempt to undermine and negate the bipartisan efforts of Congress, they are the actions of an Administration that does not see 8.7 million children without health care as a problem worth solving. I will continue to work with Governor Spitzer and my colleagues in Congress to make sure children and families in New York continue to benefit from this important program.”

In April, Governor Spitzer joined with large bi-partisan majorities in the state legislature to enact a historic expansion of New York’s SCHIP program – known as Child Health Plus. SCHIP is a joint federal-state initiative to provide quality health care to children in families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private health insurance.

The Child Health Plus expansion enacted into law would have allowed children in families making up to 400 percent of the poverty level to become eligible for the program, allowing nearly every one of New York’s 400,000 uninsured kids to obtain health care. Coverage for newly eligible children was originally scheduled to begin on September 1.

On August 17, 2007, however, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which administers SCHIP, announced new rules governing the program. Among these were the requirement that until a state enrolls 95 percent of those eligible for SCHIP in households making under 200 percent of the poverty line ($41,300 for a family of four), they cannot provide coverage to children in families making above 250 percent of the poverty line ($51,625 for a family of four). While all states aspire to cover every eligible child possible, no state has yet reached the 95 percent threshold. In New York, 88 percent of such children are enrolled.

CMS and the President have thus far not approved New York's State Plan Amendment nor rescinded these unfair rules so the State can begin its historic expansion of Child Health Plus on September 1. This means that unless they act, countless families across the state must continue to wait to get the coverage they deserve.

Earlier this week, Governor Spitzer appeared with Congressman Charles Rangel to announce his intention to take legal action against CMS if they do not reverse their new rules governing the program. These rules contradict the provisions of the federal SCHIP law and were imposed without notice or the required comment period as required by the federal Administrative Procedures Act. Yesterday, appearing at Children’s Health Day at the New York State Fair, the Governor announced a joint letter with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the President asking him to reverse these rules.