Mike Levin: “I strongly support the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, a bipartisan bill that would…”

“I strongly support the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, a bipartisan bill that would provide health care insurance to millions of children who are not now covered. I hope the President will reconsider his position and sign the bipartisan compromise when it reaches his desk. Currently, 6.6 million children are enrolled in CHIP. There are still 9 million uninsured children nationwide, 6 million of which are eligible for either Medicaid or CHIP. In Michigan, while 55,000 children are covered under CHIP, 90,000 Michigan children are currently eligible for Medicaid or MIChild, Michigan's CHIP program, but are not receiving services. In addition, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the recent decline in employer-sponsored health care coverage is threatening the access to private health care coverage for many more children. In fact, the Census Bureau has reported that, between 2004-2006, the number of uninsured children has increased by approximately one million children. Although the existing CHIP has been successful, it still fails to address the problem fully. Too many children qualify for the program but are unable to receive insurance because of inadequate funding. Much like the Senate bill to reauthorize this successful children's health program, the bill we will pass today will reauthorize CHIP and increase funding for the program by $35 billion over 5 years.”