Congressman Cohen Backs Children's Health Care Legislation

No child in Memphis or anywhere throughout our nation should ever go without medical care. I was proud to back a plan that will extend health insurance to 11 million children. This legislation was long past due.

By giving more children access to health insurance, this bill will substantially reduce the costly use of emergency rooms for primary care, and move us closer to providing every child in our nation with affordable, high-quality health care.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was created in 1997 to provide health care coverage for children in families that earn too little to afford health insurance for their children themselves but too much to qualify for Medicaid. This bill will give states the resources and incentives necessary to reach and cover millions of uninsured children who are currently eligible for, but not enrolled in, CHIP and Medicaid.

This legislation was endorsed by dozens of organizations representing millions of Americans – ranging from business groups such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and Business Roundtable to the American Hospital Association to such groups as AARP and Families USA.

This bipartisan bill reauthorizes the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through FY 2013 and preserves the coverage for all 7.1 million children currently covered by CHIP, including preserving the coverage of 41,363 children in Tennessee.

The bill also extends health care coverage to 4.1 million additional low-income children who are currently uninsured.

Furthermore, the bill is fully paid for by raising the tobacco tax by 61 cents. Raising the tobacco tax also promotes children’s health by discouraging children from smoking. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a 61-cent increase in the tobacco tax means that 1,873,000 fewer children will take up smoking.

Covering more eligible children is not only the right thing to do – it makes good economic sense for taxpayers who would otherwise be forced to foot the bill for costlier problems down the road.

With rising unemployment, this children’s health bill is more critical than ever. In this recession, more and more American parents are losing employer-sponsored health care for their children and the need for this legislation is growing every day.

I hope this critical bill will be one of the first bills signed into law by President Obama. After three years of fighting for this legislation, an additional 4 million low-income children finally receiving health care coverage really is the change America needs.

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Contact:
Marilyn Dillihay, Press Secretary, 202-225-3265
Charlie Gerber, Communications Assistant, 202-225-3265