Sen. Brown Issues Statement on Children’s Health Insurance Program
Yesterday ... a bunch of Members of
Families here in America, at the same time--I am still incredulous about this. Families in this country, at the same time--in this
Think about that. Because
Imagine you are a parent, and you get this letter. You are just vaguely aware that
Now, overwhelmingly, these parents are people who are working. They are earning
A new report from the
Parents will panic, parents will be confused, and parents, to be sure, will have their Christmas ruined by this. Think about those families getting that letter. It should be a joyful time of year for families, spending time with family, enjoying the holidays. Imagine checking that mailbox and kind of thinking maybe this is a Christmas card and opening it and finding out it is that letter. Imagine telling your daughter: I am sorry, honey. Santa is not going to bring much this year. We don't make a lot of money--you know that--but we will not have any presents under the tree. Then you have to look into your children's eyes--you have to look into your son's eyes, you have to look into your daughter's eyes, and you hope they don't see the worry in your eyes because you just got this letter. Now you are wondering how you will afford to take him or her to the doctor if he or she gets sick. These are often families with two working parents who, as I said, aren't lucky enough to work for an employer who provides insurance.
These are often families with children who have special needs. Like
Noble was born with a rare genetic disorder. He needs three therapy sessions a week. He needs daily hormone injections to treat his condition. His medications run about
I talked to Crystal again at the end of last month. She and her family are scared to death about what will happen to them if
Over the last several weeks,
When you look down the hall to
So CHIP doesn't have a lobbyist. CHIP has people like
We passed a bipartisan CHIP extension out of the
There is talk the House is going to pass a 3-month CHIP extension. We have never done that. We have extended CHIP 1 year, 2 years, 3 years. This is going to get a 5-year extension. That is what we ought to do. They are going to do a 3-month extension.
Three months provides no certainty to the States that are running CHIP. It provides no certainty to
States have to give families a heads-up so these parents have time to do what they can. Maybe some of these parents can find an alternative source of coverage, maybe they are going to fit in one more doctor's appointment before their coverage lapses. Think of that. You get this letter in the mail saying the insurance for your children is about to expire, so what do you do? You start dialing the hospital and dialing the doctor's office because you have CHIP coverage for another month or another 5 weeks or whatever, and you start scheduling any possible appointment you can, the Christmas season notwithstanding.
Providing a 3-month extension doesn't solve this problem; it just makes the situation more complicated. This body can pass massive permanent tax cuts, but they can't give families certainty? I know the tax cuts are permanent for corporations, and I know they are temporary for individual people in this country. Of course, this
I want my colleagues to explain to the Crystal Letts in your State-- because every State has thousands of concerned parents who don't know what to do with the expiration of this. My State has 209,000 children who rely on this program.
This is about whose side you are on. Do we work for corporations that send our jobs overseas, or do we work for families, such as
I yield the floor.
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