WASHINGTON, DC – Thursday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), urged President Bush to sign legislation passed by the Senate to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program and provide health care coverage to 38,500 additional kids in Washington and nearly 10 million children nationwide.  The bill, which cleared both the House and Senate is now headed to President Bush who has announced his plan to veto the bill. Cantwell worked in the Finance Committee to secure a real fix for Washington that will allow the state, for the first time, to have full access to its federal CHIP allotment for low-income kids. The fix will allow the state to cover thousands more children that would otherwise go without health insurance. The statement follows:

 

“If the President signs this bill, we will cover almost 4 million new children, including 38,500 uninsured kids in Washington—this is over half of the uninsured children in the state. This is a sensible and compassionate bill and it reflects the good that we are capable of achieving when we come together to work on solutions to our health care crisis.

 

“As health insurance premiums continue to rise more than twice as fast as wages, it’s obvious that a family dealing with the cost of housing, education, and health care has a hard time keeping up. And it’s unacceptable that people who are working hard and trying to make ends meet are unable to keep their families healthy. We need to be doing more to reach these families and help these kids. 

 

“Opponents of the bill want to tell you that we’re going too far, that this is an unchecked expansion of government health care. And I’ve heard plenty of talk about this bill providing coverage to families who make more than enough to pay for their kids’ health coverage. I’m surprised at those comments because this bill is clearly designed to reach those kids who need coverage the most. 

 

“The president needs to sign this bill—we need to help these families.” 

 

 

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