Lincoln Chafee: “I am pleased to commend the Finance Committee and Senators Hatch and Rockefeller for holding a hearing on the State…”

“I am pleased to commend the Finance Committee and Senators Hatch and Rockefeller for holding a hearing on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, SCHIP. This program has meant a decade of health care coverage for millions of low-income children who would otherwise be uninsured. My interest and commitment to the success of the SCHIP program goes back to its inception. My father, the late Senator John H. Chafee, along with Senator Rockefeller, designed and introduced S. 674, the Children's Health Insurance Provides Security, CHIPS, Act on April 30, 1997. With help from a bipartisan coalition of Members, including Senators Hatch and Kennedy, this effort came to fruition later that year when Congress approved the State Children's Health Insurance Program, SCHIP. When SCHIP was introduced there were 10 million uninsured children in the United States including 3 million who were eligible for Medicaid but were not enrolled. The SCHIP program sought to alleviate this unmet need by offering States additional Federal funds if they provided Medicaid coverage to children from families whose income was under 150 percent of the Federal poverty level. This would mean coverage for a family of four earning $30,000 per year. The bill also provided grant funds for States to reach out and enroll eligible children.…”