"We are trying to do what is right by our children, who are currently not being helped by our health care system," Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said. "If we cover children properly, we will save billions of dollars in the long run. Even if we didn't [save billions], we should still take care of these children." 1. Hawaii Covering Kids Immigrant Media Campaign Phase 3 We received funding from The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii Public Health Fund to implement a September 2007 campaign. Our target groups are Japanese, Latino, and Tongan immigrant children and youths on Oahu. 2. CHIP Reauthorization Passes Both Houses; Negotiations Next With a month-long August recess approaching and the popular and successful State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) set to expire September 30, Congress focused its attention on reauthorizing the program in a timely and careful manner. Last week, both the House and Senate passed legislation to reauthorize CHIP and the Senate was also expected to clear its bill. CHIP provides health insurance to approximately six million low-income children, as well as some adults, and it has helped reduce the rate of uninsured low-income children by one-third since its inception. On July 26, mark up began of the House reauthorization legislation, the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act (CHAMP/HR 3162). HR 3162 would provide $50 billion in additional funding over five years for CHIP and would also guarantee dental care and improve access to mental health services as a result of parity. Republicans offered a motion to recommit that would have erased existing provisions and replaced them with only a one-year extension of CHIP, but that failed and final approval came moments later with the House passing the CHAMP Act by a vote of 225-204. The Senate also debated its CHIP reauthorization legislation. It would offer less funding than the House bill--an additional $35 billion over five years--but has been ushered through thus far in a strong bipartisan manner and is seen by some as the more realistic measure. The Senate gave final approval to the Senate bill by a vote of 68 to 31. This vote is large enough that, if held, Senators would override a presidential veto. President Bush has explicitly and implicitly threatened to veto both the Senate and House versions numerous times. A Statement of Administration Policy issued July 30 stated that, amongst other pronouncements, the Senate bill "goes too far in federalizing health care" and that the President would veto it if presented to him in its current form. The statement also urges that the Administration is "committed to making sure poor children have health insurance," but recent estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) indicate the President's preferred tax deduction health reform proposal would reduce the number of uninsured children by less than 500,000. On the other hand, CBO estimates the CHAMP Act that just passed the House would provide coverage to approximately five million children who otherwise who go uninsured; the Senate CHIP reauthorization bill would provide coverage to approximately four million who otherwise would go uninsured. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has indicated he wants a meeting with the White House to convince the President not to veto the bill. Ultimately it may depend on a final negotiated agreement between the House and Senate. The House bill also includes some significant changes and expansions to Medicare coverage, a repeal of scheduled cuts to physicians payments, and a cut in the Medicare advantage program, which subsidizes some private insurance based Medicare programs. It will be a busy August break for some members. [Child Welfare League of America, 08/06/07] 3. New Federal Guidelines for Children's Health Many children who attempt to enroll in a popular children's health insurance program will have to be uninsured for at least a year before they'll be allowed to participate, the Bush administration has informed state health officials. The administration has repeatedly voiced concerns that some states were expanding their State Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) to the point that families were dropping private coverage for public coverage. Its latest directive is designed to prevent such crowding out from occurring. In a letter to state health officials, Dennis Smith, the administration's point man for CHIP, laid out certain criteria that states much meet before they expand insurance coverage to those families above 250 percent of the poverty level. For example, states must establish that a child has been without insurance for a minimum of one year before the child can get coverage through CHIP. States will also have to assure the federal government that at least 95 percent of the children eligible for the program or for Medicaid are enrolled in either of those two programs. But, currently, no state can make such an assurance for their participation rates. The best that any state is doing is Vermont, with about 92 percent participation. So, essentially, eligibility for states' CHIPs would be capped at 250 percent of poverty, said health officials who examined the administration's new policy. The policy went out in the form of a letter to state health officials late Friday. Since many families above that threshold still can't afford private insurance, "the effect of this policy is to have more uninsured kids," said Rachel Klein, deputy director of health policy for Families USA, an advocacy group. Some 19 states, including the District of Columbia, provide health insurance coverage to children in families with incomes above 250 percent of the poverty level, or are in the process of doing so. The new guidelines could have a dramatic impact on those states as well as any other that wanted to follow in their steps, said Cindy Mann, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. "It's a pretty radical departure in policy that has been in existence for 10 years," Mann said. "It attempts to stop in their tracks those states that have already or want to expand coverage." Both chambers of Congress recently passed bills that would dramatically increase funding for CHIP. The Bush administration opposes both measures and has said that the increased funding sought by the two chambers is unwarranted and would result in less private coverage and more public coverage for children. The letter from Smith said the new guidelines would not affect current enrollees. "We appreciate your efforts and share your goal of providing health care to low-income, uninsured children," Smith told state officials. About 6.6 million people participate in CHIP. The program subsidizes insurance for those families with incomes too high to participate in Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. The administration wants to spend about $30 billion on the program over the next five years. The Senate has called for spending about $60 billion. The House called for spending of about $75 billion. Negotiators have yet been appointed to work out the differences in the two bills. [by Kevin Freking, Associated Press, 08/20/07]