Governor Vilsack Asks President Bush to Maintain Children's Access to Health Insurance

Governor Vilsack Asks President Bush to Maintain Children's Access to Health Insurance

Governor points to Iowa's historic success in covering kids

DES MOINES - Governor Tom Vilsack announced today that he has asked President Bush to work with Congress to address shortfalls in the federal program that partners with states to provide health insurance for children.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was authorized in 1997 to expand health care coverage to children with parents who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but are unable to afford private coverage.

Commonly known as hawk-i, or Healthy and Well Kids Iowa in Iowa, SCHIP provides health insurance coverage for six million children nationwide and more than 20,000 kids in Iowa.

The federal budget shortfall for Iowa is approximately $29 million in the current fiscal year. State program managers will need to begin making systematic changes soon to account for the shortfall if Congress fails to act.

In a letter to the President, Vilsack said that states are currently facing harsh decisions that could result in children losing their coverage.

"One of our most important responsibilities as leaders is to ensure the safety and well-being of our children," said Vilsack "We have made huge strides in recent years to expand health care coverage to more than 90 percent of Iowa children and we can not afford to lose ground now. Research shows that healthy kids are better prepared to learn and are more likely to reach their full potential.

"Reducing funding for this vital program would reduce our ability to provide Iowa children a brighter future. Congressman Boswell has co-sponsored a bill to address the shortfall and I encourage other Iowa Congressional members to support his bill or any other bill that will helps protect Iowa families."

Through an aggressive outreach and marketing effort, the Vilsack/Pederson Administration has changed the landscape of health care coverage for Iowa families. Over the past 7 years, the state has expanded health care coverage to more than 98,000 previously uninsured children.

A bipartisan group of governors from eleven other states signed onto the letter including Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

http://www.governor.state.ia.us/news/2006/september/september2006_1.html