Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass significantly revised children’s health care legislation that fulfills the goal of providing health care coverage to 10 million American children -- including thousands in Northwest Washington – and responds to concerns about an earlier version of the bill vetoed by the President. 

“This legislation makes significant changes to our earlier bill while still delivering health care to 10 million American kids who need it,” said Larsen. “Congress is committed to providing health care to 10 million children. The legislation we passed today gives President Bush another chance to make the right choice for kids.”

On October 3, President Bush vetoed the bipartisan State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill (H.R. 976), which would have provided 10 million American children with health care.  That legislation had passed Congress by strong, bipartisan votes in both the House and Senate. 

The bill passed by the House today (H.R. 3963) makes significant changes to the earlier legislation.  It caps coverage at 300 percent of the poverty line and clarifies that the legislation is focused on enrolling low-income children first. It includes stronger language to make it clear that the legislation does not extend coverage to illegal immigrants. And in response to concerns about adults being covered by the bill, it phases out coverage for childless adults already receiving coverage over the course of one year instead of two.

NORTHWEST NUMBERS BY COUNTY:

According to estimates from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, the revised Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 could help thousands of additional children in Island, San Juan, Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties get the health care coverage they need:

Island County: 338 additional children could get health care coverage they need

San Juan County: 62 additional children could get the health care coverage they need

Snohomish County: 963 additional children could get the health care coverage they need

Skagit County: 835 additional children could get the health care coverage they need

Whatcom County: 1,257 additional children could get the health care coverage they need

(Estimated numbers based on maximum enrollment; a smaller number of additional children are likely to actually be enrolled in the program.)

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