AAFP Statement: Congress, President Must Act Quickly on New SCHIP Reauthorization in Wake of Veto Override Failure

Statement Attributable to:
James King, M.D.
President
American Academy of Family Physicians

The American Academy of Family Physicians is disappointed that Congress did not override President Bush's veto of the bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007. We call on Congress and the Bush administration to act quickly on legislation that reauthorizes and funds SCHIP at a level that ensures as many uninsured children as possible have access to needed health care.

This reauthorization legislation would have enabled 5.8 million children in working, low-income families to maintain access to health care. Eighty-six percent of those enrolled would otherwise have no insurance, and without appropriately funded reauthorization, between 700,000 and 800,000 currently enrolled children will be dropped from their current eligibility.

Reauthorization also would have expanded access to 2.5 million children who are currently eligible but not enrolled. These are children who cannot be insured through the private sector because they have pre-existing conditions or because their parents who earn up to 200 percent of the Federal Poverty level may work for companies that do not offer affordable insurance or any form of health insurance.

This paralysis on SCHIP reauthorization comes at a time when Census data demonstrate a growing number of uninsured children as a result of continuing declines in employer-sponsored coverage. Recent studies show that more than one-third of low-income families are not offered insurance through their employer or spouse's employer and that increases in health insurance premiums have outstripped wage increase and have escalated more quickly than increases in the federal poverty level.

Our national potential rests with children who grow into healthy, productive adults. We can realize that potential only by ensuring that today's children have access to needed and appropriate health care. We call on Congress and President Bush to work together to enact legislation that meets these children's health care access needs.