Monday, February 12, 2007

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Floor Statement on State Children’s Health Insurance Program
Remarks as Delivered on the Senate Floor

Madam President, I rise to wholeheartedly endorse an amendment filed today prior to the 2:30 deadline, authored by Senator Chambliss and coauthored by myself. The amendment relates to SCHIP, State Children's Health Insurance Program, and a crisis that exists right now, this minute, in 17 States in the United States of America.

As the occupant of the chair knows, SCHIP is a program where our most needy children are able to get health insurance. It is a 71-percent Federal Medicaid match. But unlike Medicaid, it is not an entitlement; it is an appropriated amount annually that is derived by a formula as the States get their benefit. What has happened this year is that a number of States, with a number of children eligible for the program, have run out of their Federal match and it is capitated.

Also, a number of States have a significant surplus. What Senator Chambliss has proposed, and what I am advocating, is an amendment we want to propose to the CR which would take that amount of surplus SCHIP money in States with more than 200 percent of their estimated need--take that amount above 200 percent and put it into a pool and reallocate it to those States that are falling short, so that through this fiscal year every child in America who has been promised children's health insurance can in fact get it.

It doesn't penalize any State that has a surplus because that is money they have not and will not use. It doesn't benefit any State who has abused the system. It is just that we have a number of States that have grown rapidly in their numbers. In Georgia alone, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we added 43,000 children immediately into our State's population, most all of whom remain today.

I know the CR amendment tree has been filled as of now. The distinguished majority leader has filled the tree, so there will be no room for amendments to the continuing resolution. I intend to vote tomorrow for cloture to allow us to complete this resolution and continue appropriations for this year. I hope the distinguished majority leader will think about the value of saving the SCHIP program this year.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter that was distributed by the majority leader and the Speaker, written to the President of the United States, on February 2.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,

Washington, DC, February 2, 2007.
The PRESIDENT
The White House,
Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: We understand you plan to submit a request for emergency supplemental appropriations soon, which news reports indicate could exceed $100 billion. As you consider the emergency needs of our nation, we respectfully request that you not forget the millions of low-income Americans who are insured under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). We ask that you submit a separate spending proposal to cover shortfalls in SCHIP for Fiscal Year 2007 which have been estimated to be $745 million. Unless we act quickly to provide additional funds to this important program, we are putting the health coverage of thousands of Americans in jeopardy.

As you know, over 46 million Americans are without health insurance. We can ill afford to increase the rolls of the uninsured for failure to adequately fund a successful and efficient insurance program such as SCHIP. Yet we know that at least fourteen states will face a shortfall of SCHIP funds within months. The Governor of Georgia has written to us stating that ``It is vitally important to our most needy citizens that Congress act expeditiously.''

At the end of the last Congress, we were successful in including a provision to avert a similar crisis, but unfortunately, we are again in need of another short-term solution. While we plan to work in Congress later this year to reauthorize SCHIP and address longer-term issues, it is essential that you work with us to again provide a short-term fix. The cost of filling the funding shortfall is minor in comparison to your other emergency requests.

SCHIP has become a vital part our safety net, providing health care coverage to millions of Americans who otherwise would be uninsured. Including funds to address fully the looming SCHIP shortfall would assure that states can continue to provide this important coverage while we work to address the longer-term success of the program.

Sincerely,
Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker.

Madam President, they made my case better than I make it in this letter. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid say we must fix the SCHIP program and suggested that the President add that to the emergency supplemental on Iraq, which we are going to take up in April.

The problem with that is, my State of Georgia runs out of SCHIP money at the end of this month--maybe, at the latest, at the end of March. We are having to cut off new enrollees now and will soon send out the notices to 273,000 children. There will be no money for the remainder of the year after March to meet the obligations of SCHIP. That will take place in States around the country, North, South, East and West.

Think about it. If you have enough money here and everybody who had that money allocated has used all they need, and you don't have enough money over here, it is a simple accounting measurement to fix that in this interim time. Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus have already committed, and Senators Rockefeller and Reid--all of us on both sides have all said we have to fix the formula; we will get to it toward the end of the year. But we can fix it in the interim to see to it that no child with health care under SCHIP loses that before we make the permanent fix.

I commend Senator Chambliss, who is on the floor, on his leadership and this amendment. I ask the majority leader to give close thought to this issue that was referenced in his own letter of February 2. If there was one amendment that could go on the continuing resolution and would receive unanimous support in the Congress and in the Senate, it is the amendment authored by Senator Chambliss and cosponsored by myself. I ask the leadership to seriously consider allowing an opening on the amendment tree so that amendment can be passed and adopted, and children in Georgia and around the country will end up having the health care that they have been promised and that they deserve.