Sen. Stabenow Issues Statement on Children’s Health Insurance Program

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 -- Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, issued the following statement, which was published in the Congressional Record on Dec. 20, on the Children's Health Insurance Program and community health centers:

Mr. President, on a different subject, talking about keeping promises; that is, other people who are counting on us to be able to act in order to get their healthcare.

We have had 81 days since the funding ended for the Children's Health Insurance Program and community health centers. Each State is a little different because of the various combinations of funding and so on, which meant not everyone lost care immediately right after. There are three States this month, others in the first of the year, and so on.

I literally received just a few moments ago a notice from our State saying it is very likely that if we don't act, in January, families in Michigan are going to get a notice that what we call MIChild, which provides healthcare for 100,000 children in Michigan of working families who don't qualify for help through Medicaid or other assistance--they are working and maybe at work they are getting healthcare, but it doesn't cover their children, or maybe they are not getting healthcare, and they want to at least be able to cover their children, that is what MIChild is all about.

It has been 81 days since the deadline of September 30, which stopped the Federal funding from going forward. This affects 9 million children nationwide and 100,000 children in Michigan.

In addition to that, community health centers across the country serve 25 million patients every year; 300,000 of them are veterans, and 7.5 million of them are children.

I had the opportunity last Friday to visit two wonderful facilities-- one in Flint, which is in Genesee County, and one in western Wayne County--and see the great work they do and talk to some of the people who were there to get care. People are counting on community health centers and they are counting on the Children's Health Insurance Program in order to make sure they have the care they need for themselves and their families.

It is important that we act. We could act right now. This is bipartisan. We passed a bipartisan bill out of the Finance Committee in September, before the deadline. I want to thank the chairman, Senator Hatch, and the ranking member, Senator Wyden. I was pleased to join with them. We passed it out of committee with only one "`no" vote. We have bipartisan support to get this done. Senator Blunt and I offered a bill that is bipartisan and has had the support of 70 Members of this body in signing a letter saying to continue funding for community health centers.

Our plan all along was to pass the children's health insurance bill out of committee in September and add health centers and then pass it before the deadline so that it would take away the anxiety, worry, and fear that families now have about what is going to happen.

Every day that goes by, people are worried about what is going to happen. Are they going to be able to take their child to the doctor, be able to get their asthma treatments, handle their juvenile diabetes, cancer treatments, or the normal things that happen to kids every day?

I am not sure if there will be any votes today. We could, today, pass the Children's Health Insurance Program and community health centers and let families across America know they are going to be able to have the medical care they need for themselves and their children coming into the new year.

I yield the floor.