Jay Rockefeller: “recently my colleagues, Senators Grassley, Kennedy, Jeffords, and Harkin introduced The Family Opportunity Act of 2000.…”

“recently my colleagues, Senators Grassley, Kennedy, Jeffords, and Harkin introduced The Family Opportunity Act of 2000. I have proudly signed on to this important piece of legislation which will help hundreds of thousands of American families who have children with disabilities get access to Medicaid as well as obtain much needed support and information. The Family Opportunity Act is modeled after last year's successful Work Incentives Improvement Act, which assures adults with disabilities can return to work and not risk losing their health care coverage. This new Act would create a state option to allow middle-income parents who have a child with special health needs to keep working, while having an option to buy in to Medicaid coverage for their child. In my own state of West Virginia, over 50,000 children are known to have a disability. I have heard personally from many of these families, who remind me about their daily struggles of sacrificing time, energy, and finances to provide the best environment for their child. In the past, this has meant that parents often refuse jobs, pay raises and overtime just to keep their incomes low enough so that they can qualify for services under Medicaid for their children with special health care needs.”