Sen. Portman Issues Statement on Children’s Health Insurance Program
Mr. President, constituents of mine are hearing today that there is a looming government shutdown--Friday at midnight; that if
We have legislation called End Government Shutdowns, by the way, which says that when
In the so-called continuing resolution, which is a short-term spending bill--which, again, is not the best way to govern, but that is what our choice is--in that continuing resolution to keep the government from shutting down, there is also, as I understand it, going to be something that is very good for our country. So, one, shutting down doesn't make sense, but two, let's be sure that the short-term spending bill that we do pass includes something very important-- important to about 219,000 children in my home
CHIP has traditionally been a bipartisan program. It is supported by
Right now, that program is really on life support. We are told that if we do not extend that program, some States will begin running out of money even in the next few weeks. One of those States could be
By the way, the program ended in September, and since
My understanding is that the
I heard from some families last week in
These are children who have serious health problems and who need that kind of care and rely on CHIP to provide it.
For all the disagreements we have in this Chamber--and there are plenty of them--there will be healthy and spirited debate on lots of issues later today, I am sure. This is one on which we can come together and agree that children should have that basic healthcare.
I came to the
Again, I am encouraged by what I hear--that the
There are some changes to the program and some reforms to the program that have been bipartisan through committee, and I am hopeful that will be part of it as well.
Is this CR perfect in terms of healthcare? No. There are other things we should do as well. We can do that with regard to the longer term spending bill we will probably be doing a couple of weeks from now or a few weeks from now or whenever we come to the end of whatever the continuing resolution is tomorrow.
We do need to find long-term funding solutions for community health centers, for instance. Again, that has been bipartisan in the past. These centers have been very effective in dealing with issues that relate to our communities, health issues, such as opioid addiction. Community health centers have been very helpful in providing treatment to people, particularly in rural areas that don't have access to other healthcare treatment centers. We should provide them with that long- term funding and certainty.
I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will vote to extend these important health insurance programs for our children. Again, CHIP stands for
Sen. Grassley Issues Statement on Children’s Health Insurance Program
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