| Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, joined a bipartisan majority today to support H.R. 2, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2009. The bipartisan bill, which passed the House today by a vote of 289 to 139, would provide 11 million children with health care over the next four and a half years. The bill now awaits consideration in the U.S. Senate.
"Today's vote marks the fifth time in less than two years that the Democrat-led Congress has passed or tried to override President Bush's veto of SCHIP, but this time the outcome will be different,... said U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). "In less than a week, we will have a new President that will sign this bill into law. I urge the Senate to move quickly in passing this bill so that it can be one of the first bills on President Obama's desk when he takes office next week....
The bill would reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program until 2013 and would preserve coverage for all 7 million children currently enrolled in the program and extend health care coverage to 4 million additional low-income, uninsured children. The bill would maintain coverage for 345,000 children in Illinois and it would help extend coverage to over 300,000 uninsured children in Illinois. H.R. 2 would also provide dental coverage and mental health parity for all children enrolled in CHIP. The bill would also give states the discretion to cover more women and children by lifting the five year ban for legal immigrants.
In the 110th Congress, the Democratic-led Congress passed two bills to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, but President Bush vetoed both bills. The Democratic-led Congress attempted to override the veto twice last Congress, but fell over a dozen votes short of overriding the President's veto. Congress was left with no choice, but to pass a short-term extension of the program, which expires in April 2009. | |
