Debbie Dingell: “We have here before us a bill which gives $35 billion to strengthen and improve children's health coverage. It protects…”

“We have here before us a bill which gives $35 billion to strengthen and improve children's health coverage. It protects 6 million children today covered by SCHIP. It adds an additional 4 million. It is the largest investment in children's health since the passage of the original Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997. It provides $300 million in outreach grants for the States, community organizations, tribal organizations, and national initiatives. It provides a new express lane initiative for one-stop enrollment. It facilitates enrollments for newborns so coverage starts immediately. It does more than this. It revises the current SCHIP program formula to more accurately attract State need in that it follows the House provisions. It provides the children enrollment program contingencies adjustment allotments to States to succeed in reaching the eligible but the unenrolled. It does more. It provides dental coverage for CHIP children. It also provides mental health coverage for children. It provides grant money for diabetes clarification and prevention. It clarifies the coverage of school-based clinic services through the CHIP program. It creates a new option for CHIP programs to subsidize employer options and employer coverage for children whose parents may already have access to coverage. It does not do any of the things that were charged on the other side because it does not change the law that CHIP now has in place.”