Jeff Bingaman: “the bipartisan legislation I am introducing today with Senators Lugar, Torricelli, and Corzine entitled the ``Children's…”

“the bipartisan legislation I am introducing today with Senators Lugar, Torricelli, and Corzine entitled the ``Children's Health Coverage Improvement Act of 2001'' would improve outreach and enrollment efforts targeted at children to dramatically reduce the number of uninsured children in this country. This legislation is a companion bill to S. 1016, the ``Start Healthy, Stay Healthy Act of 2001,'' which would expand and improve coverage to children and pregnant women through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, CHIP. The legislation provides $100 million in grants annually from the unspent allocations in CHIP to community-based public or non-profit organizations, including community health centers, children's hospitals, disproportionate share hospitals, local and county government, and public health departments, for the purposes of conducting innovative outreach and enrollment efforts. The bill further clarifies that the outstationed workers requirement in Medicaid, which requires that eligibility workers be available in the public in our nation's community health centers and safety net hospitals, shall also enroll children in CHIP if they are eligible for coverage under that program as well.”