U.S. Senator Susan Collins is calling on the Senate to approve by a veto-proof margin 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 tomorrow’s expected Senate approval of legislation would increase SCHIP funding by $35 million, the President has threatened to veto the legislation. Senator Collins recently said 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, “One of the very first bills that I cosponsored when I first came to the Senate in 1997 was legislation to create the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, as it has become know. 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 rate 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. 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. It is critical that we not let SCHIP expire and that we extend the program to cover additional low-income children.
"I urge my Senate colleagues to approve this vital legislation by a veto-proof margin. This program simply cannot be allowed to expire."
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