Smith Urges President to Sign Children’s Health Measure

“Unfortunately, the White House is fighting Congress with faulty ideology. I hope the President will put aside his differences and deliver a victory for our kids.” - Senator Gordon H. Smith

Senator Gordon Smith

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Before casting his vote in favor of reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) asked President Bush from the floor of the U.S. Senate to reconsider his veto threat and sign the measure into law.

SCHIP is a joint federal-state program that provides health care coverage to low-income children. The program is set to expire at the end of September.

“We have delivered to the president a solid bill that improves and expands the availability of health care for low-income kids,” said Senator Smith. “Unfortunately, the White House is fighting Congress with faulty ideology. I hope the President will put aside his differences and deliver a victory for our kids.”

The legislation approved by the House and Senate this week will dedicate $35 billion to the reauthorization of SCHIP, allowing the program to cover an additional four million children (60,000 more kids in Oregon) for a total of 10 million.

Based on legislation by Senators Smith and Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), the package will correct policies put in place by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would prohibit states from providing quality health coverage to children whose family income is above 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

The measure also includes language by Senators Smith and John Kerry (D-MA) to prohibit discriminatory limits on mental health care in SCHIP plans.