January 30, 2009
Senate Votes to Reauthorize and Extend SCHIP
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Bill Would Provide 4.1 Million Low-Income Uninsured Children with Coverage
Washington D.C. – AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families praised lawmakers in the U.S. Senate who voted yesterday to significantly expand coverage for low-income uninsured children through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The legislation would reauthorize the program through September 2013 and provide $32.8 billion more in funding to add coverage for four million uninsured children, in addition to providing funding for states to maintain the almost seven million children already enrolled in SCHIP.
In a 66-32 vote, the Senate approved the State Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, H.R. 2. Without action, the program is set to expire on March 31, 2009.
“The Senate reaffirmed its commitment to vulnerable children by voting today to provide health insurance for four million of the nine million uninsured children in the United States,” said AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families Board President Alelia Munroe. “Protecting our children is one of the most important things we can do as a society, and providing them with medical coverage is certainly part of that. Many low-income children, including some with HIV/AIDS, have no health insurance, and as a result have worse health outcomes. We hope this will be the first part of a more comprehensive health reform effort.”
It is estimated that about 56,500 young people age 13-24 are living with HIV, and 7,800 young people age 13-24 in the United States have AIDS. Many are uninsured, or underinsured. Medicaid and SCHIP are the safety net for low-income vulnerable children, ensuring they have access to the health care and medicine they need to lead health lives. Medicaid and SCHIP are the primary sources of health coverage for women, infants and children in Part D programs of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.
An amendment to the Senate SCHIP legislation approved by the Senate Finance Committee would give states the option to provide SCHIP and Medicaid eligibility to uninsured low-income, legal immigrant women who are pregnant and require prenatal care to ensure a healthy pregnancy, helping to determine their HIV status and further reducing perinatal mother-to-child transmission rates. In addition, this amendment would extend the option to the states to offer coverage to uninsured, legal immigrant children who have been in the U.S. for fewer than five years. The legislation encourages states to adopt new outreach and enrollment tools in both Medicaid and SCHIP to enroll eligible low-income children.
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Founded in 1994, AACYF is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the partnership between consumers and providers – we are the voice of women, children, youth and families living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. AACYF works to enhance and expand access to quality, comprehensive, family-centered care to America’s children, youth and families affected by HIV/AIDS, as it represents the nation’s network of over 650 Ryan White Part D funded community-based organizations. Part D programs serve over 53,000 HIV-affected women, children, youth and families through sites located in 35 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
