November 15, 2007
States Urge Including Parents in SCHIP
 
In a letter to leaders in the U.S. Senate who are working on new legislation to continue the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), senators from five states that currently cover parents of children enrolled in SCHIP have urged that the new bill should include an option for states “to provide health care to this specific population.” Arguing that parent coverage is an important part of keeping families healthy, senators from Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin noted that their states have taken the lead in providing health care to parents and said they don’t want the new legislation to inhibit the ability of states to do that. Parent coverage is one of several issues now confronting House and Senate leaders who have been negotiating for a new SCHIP bill since President Bush vetoed an earlier measure October 18, with controversy also arising over whether immigrants should have to provide proof of citizenship before their children can be enrolled in SCHIP. The current SCHIP authorization expired October 31 and the program is now operating under a resolution passed by Congress that continues expired programs at existing levels until new legislation is passed.