Press Releases

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett Regrets Futile, Divisive SCHIP Override Vote Liberals' Proposed Expansion of Taxpayer-Provided Health Insurance to Children of Middle and Upper Income Rejected Again

Washington, Jan 23 -

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett said that he was “disappointed” that House leaders scheduled an eighth, futile, and divisive vote on the State-Children’s Health Insurance (SCHIP) program. By a 15-vote margin, 260-152, larger than the last time, the House failed to override President Bush’s veto of their effort to expand the SCHIP program to provide taxpayer-paid health insurance to children in middle and upper income families. “Scheduling this vote can only sow confusion and disappointment in the ability of the Congress to address problems,” said Congressman Bartlett.

Congressman Bartlett noted, “By an overwhelming bipartisan vote just before Christmas, Congress already approved an extension, adequate funding and better outreach of the SCHIP program through March 2009. I am worried that low income working families with children who are enrolled or eligible for the program could easily be confused into believing they might lose their SCHIP health insurance. These vulnerable families are the real losers from the Congressional leadership’s insistence on scheduling this confrontational veto override vote they knew would fail.”

“I am especially disappointed after last week’s cooperative, bipartisan and swift action by House and Senate leaders to fix the President’s veto of the Defense bill. This is the eighth vote by the House on SCHIP. It’s unfortunate that Democratic Congressional leaders are continuing to use children as an excuse for following the agenda of some liberal advocacy groups. They refuse to recognize that most Americans reject government-controlled health care. Most Americans oppose expanding SCHIP to provide taxpayer-paid health insurance to children in middle and upper-income families who already have private health insurance.”

Congressman Bartlett voted to create the SCHIP program in 1997 to provide health insurance for children of working parents who earned too much money to qualify for Medicaid. In December, Congress acted to extend SCHIP for 18-months through CP)CHIthrough March 31, 2009. This allows time for a comprehensive review of the program and ensures it does not have to become a campaign issue during 2008. Sufficient additional funding will ensure continued coverage for families in Maryland and other states that would otherwise exhaust their SCHIP funding. 136,034 children were enrolled in SCHIP in Maryland during FY 2006. According to a November, 14, 2007 Congressional Research Service report, 21 states including Maryland, were projected to face SCHIP shortfalls in the absence of additional funding http://www.congress.gov/erp/rl/pdf/RL30473.pdf. The extension also includes better outreach to help eligible low-income families enroll is SCHIP and measures to remove adults from the children’s health insurance program.