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 Post subject: Stop SCHIP before it sinks U.S.!
PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:25 pm 
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This bill has already passed the U.S. House. See how your Rep. voted then call to let them know what you think.
Here is the US House of Representatives vote roll call for H.R. 2: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll016.xml

The U.S. Senate will be voting on this very soon so call Senators Lugar and Bayh to tell them to vote against SCHIP for illegal aliens.

You may reach any U.S. Representative or Senator by calling the toll free numbers for the main Capitol Hill Switchboard:
1-866-220-0044
1-866-340-9281
1-866-808-0065

Below are 2 articles. One is from the Wall St. Journal and the other is from CNS News.





Children's Health Bill Aids Legal Immigrants
(Wall Street Journal, 14-JAN-2009)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1231812 ... lenews_wsj

• JANUARY 13, 2009
Children's Health Bill Aids Legal Immigrants
MORE IN POLITICS »
By LAURA MECKLER

WASHINGTON -- Democrats are using an early vote on a children's health-care bill to advance a longstanding effort in the more controversial area of immigration.

A bill renewing the Children's Health Insurance Program is expected to pass Congress easily and is being teed up to give President-elect Barack Obama an early victory.

The bill, similar to a version that President George W. Bush vetoed, would renew and provide more funding for a program that subsidizes insurance to children in lower-income families. Unlike the earlier version, the bill is expected to lift a provision in place for more than a decade that bars legal immigrant children and pregnant women from federal health programs during their first five years in the U.S.

Mr. Obama, who sponsored legislation lifting the ban when he was in the Senate, supports doing so now.

Immigrant Eligibility
Legal immigrants were generally eligible for public benefits until 1996, when a welfare overhaul bill banned or restricted them from several programs. With a few exceptions, they were banned from food stamps and Supplemental Security Income, or SSI. Those who had been in the country for less than five years were banned from cash welfare, Medicaid and, in 1997, the Children's Health Insurance Program.


Since then, several of the restrictions have been turned back.

Program Major changes since 1996
Food stamps Children, immigrants with disabilities and refugees now eligible; adults in the country legally for five years now eligible
SSI Disabled immigrants who were in U.S. in 1996 now eligible; refugees eligible during first nine years in U.S.
Cash welfare States given flexibility to include immigrants
Medicaid/CHIP No changes enacted to date

Source: National Immigration Law Center



About 400,000 children would be newly eligible for federal health programs under the change, according to estimates by Leighton Ku, a health-policy professor at George Washington University.

The move signals the willingness of the new Congress and incoming White House to take on immigration issues, building on strong support for Democrats in recent elections from the Latino community. While further immigration proposals have stirred strong grass-roots opposition, congressional leaders are betting that it's an easy political sell to provide health care for children who are in the country legally.

Immigrant advocates are hoping the Obama administration and new Congress will go on to tackle bigger measures. Mr. Obama has pledged to try again for a comprehensive immigration bill that had been supported by Mr. Bush but failed in the last Congress. It's unclear, however, how high a priority that is for Mr. Obama, who has placed greater urgency on issues such as economic stimulus, health care and climate change.

The ban on immigrant benefits dates to 1996. It originally was written into legislation overhauling the nation's welfare programs. Legal immigrants were restricted or banned from aid programs including cash welfare, disability, food stamps and Medicaid.

Supporters argued that immigrants' sponsors agree when they are admitted to the U.S. to support them if need be so they shouldn't have to rely on government programs.

When the Children's Health Insurance Program was created in 1997, the rules for Medicaid were applied to the new program.

Immigration advocates and their allies in Congress have since tried to overturn these rules, with some success. For instance, Congress allowed all immigrant children to qualify for food stamps starting in 2003.

The children's health bill to be considered soon by the House will lift the ban on both the Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid for legal immigrant children and pregnant women, said two House aides involved in the legislation. That will give states the option to include them in their programs, but it won't require it.

Aides said they are confident they have enough votes to pass the bill and think that, substance aside, the issue works for them politically.

"Of all the immigration issues, this is a good one," said one Democratic aide.

In the Senate, the legislation is being crafted by the Finance Committee. Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) has said he wants the ban lifted, though it isn't clear whether he is committed to including the provision in the bill he presents to his committee. At a meeting last week, some Republicans voiced concerns about the immigration provision, but none threatened to withhold their support based on the issue, according to two people familiar with the meeting.

Some Republican opponents of the provision oppose the underlying legislation anyway. But the move could lose Democrats other Republican votes. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the committee, continues to support the ban, aides said. One Grassley aide added that if this provision makes it to the final legislation, "it'll be difficult for many Republicans to support final passage."

The Finance Committee plans to have legislation introduced this week, with a vote soon after.

Immigrant advocates are hopeful that the ban will be eliminated and that the victory will help make the case that pro-immigration action can be a political winner, said Jennifer Ng'andu of the advocacy group National Council of La Raza.

"We consider this the first real test of the new administration and the Congress," she said.

Write to Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com
######################################################################################################################

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/a ... rcID=42026


Illegal Immigrants and Families Making $61K Could Qualify for Federal Help Under SCHIP
Friday, January 16, 2009
By Matt Cover


Washington (CNSNews.com) – The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the federal program designed to extend health coverage to the nation’s poorest children, would allow legal immigrants and middle class children – those from families making over $61,000 per year – access to a program originally intended for the poorest of the poor.

The Senate is poised to pass the legislation, which is on a fast track, to be ready for President-elect Barack Obama to sign when he takes office.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee marked up the Senate version of the bill Thursday, after the House overwhelming passed their version on Jan. 14.

Two previous versions have been vetoed by President Bush.

The bill would officially establish an income cap of 300 percent above the federal poverty line -- or $61,950 per year for a family of four. However, the bill allows for states to pay SCHIP benefits at incomes higher than 300 percent above poverty if they have sate laws or plans in place to cover kids above the 300 percent mark by the time the bill is signed.
Currently, only New Jersey is allowed to cover children from such families and only New York has passed a law expanding its coverage.

The bill also allows states to receive SCHIP funds if they expand the scope of their Medicaid coverage, something they can do on their own. If states choose to expand Medicaid coverage, they can cover children whose families make more than 300 percent of the poverty rate.

If states expand their Medicaid eligibility, by raising maximum income levels, they may use the SCHIP funds they receive to provide healthcare for the children of these new Medicaid families. This means that states may use Medicaid expansions to expand CHIP eligibility, because they can cover new Medicaid children with CHIP money.

Currently, nine states have expanded their Medicaid eligibility above 300 percent of the poverty level.

The bill also allows for immigrants, both legal and illegal, to access SCHIP funds, although illegal immigrants may only do so for 90 days.

The bill removes previous requirements, currently required under Medicaid, that mandate new enrollees provide photo identification and documentation proving citizenship, such as a green card or passport, when applying for SCHIP.

The new language strips this proposal and says that states can accept Social Security numbers as proof of citizenship, and that they must provide health coverage while those numbers are being verified. If a number cannot be verified, states must drop coverage after 90 days.

However, a Social Security number is the only proof of citizenship required under SCHIP and new enrollees are no longer required to offer proof of identification when enrolling. This provision would allow someone who has stolen a Social Security number to receive CHIP funds, so long as the theft is not discovered by the Social Security Administration – the agency responsible for tracking and issuing Social Security numbers.

The bill would also cover some parents of poor children as well as some single adults.

Currently, some states are allowed waivers to cover parents of poor children and some single adults, provisions which were eliminated by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

The new SCHIP bill would allow state to continue using federal funds to cover parents of very poor children, but would phase out covering single adults.


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