Jeff Bingaman: “Let me say for the information of my colleague, I appreciate his willingness to look into this matter. My strong…”

“Let me say for the information of my colleague, I appreciate his willingness to look into this matter. My strong impression--and not just impression, but information I have been given--is Secretary Thompson clearly supports the regulation which his Department issued today related to the fetus, the coverage of unborn children. However, he also supports passage of this bill to provide an option to States to cover pregnant women under the CHIP Program. It is also my information that this does not involve any expansion of Medicaid, that this is strictly a change in law that provides the option to States to cover pregnant women under the CHIP Program if they so choose. That is not, as I see it, an additional burden on any State.”