With Senator Susan Collins’ support, the Senate has approved legislation to extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Senator Collins is among the leading supporters of the successful program that provides health insurance to low-income children throughout the nation. The 1997 legislation to create the program was among the first bills Senator Collins co-sponsored when she was first elected to the Senate.
While the legislation approved by the Senate would increase SCHIP funding by $35 billion, the President has threatened to veto the legislation. In a speech to the Senate, Senator Collins called on the President to reconsider the veto threat, saying that such a veto would be a “terrible mistake.”
The bill also includes provisions backed by Senator Collins that would provide greater dental coverage for low-income children, require plans offering mental health benefits to provide coverage that is equivalent to other health services, and give states the option of covering low-income pregnant women.
Senator Collins said, “This bipartisan bill is the result of bipartisan efforts and will extend and expand a program vital to low-income children throughout the nation. SCHIP has been a tremendous success and it is hard to understand why anyone would oppose this highly successful program.”
In a speech earlier this evening to the Senate, Senator Collins said, “One of the very first bills that I cosponsored when I came to the Senate in 1997 was legislation that established the SCHIP program. It provides health insurance for children in families that do not have sufficient income to purchase health insurance and are not getting health insurance in the workplace. Yet, these families make a bit too much money to qualify for coverage under the state’s Medicaid program. These low-income children were falling through the cracks.
“Since 1997, the SCHIP program has contributed to a one-third decline in the number of uninsured low-income children. Today, an estimated 6.6 million children, including more than 14,500 children living in Maine, receive health care coverage through this program. Still there is more that we could do to further decrease the number of uninsured low-income children. While Maine ranks among the top four states in reducing the number of uninsured children, we still have more than 20,000 children in our state who lack coverage.
“This bill is a prescription for good health for millions of our nation’s low-income children. That is why I am so disappointed that the President has threatened to veto this legislation.” Senator Collins said that she would vote to override the President’s veto.
The legislation approved by the Senate would extend and increase funding for the SCHIP program by $35 billion over the next five years.”
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