U.S. Senator Susan Collins, who last week voted in favor of the extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), released this statement following today’s Presidential veto.
“I am disappointed that the President has vetoed this vital program. I believe it is a terrible mistake.
“One of the very first bills that I cosponsored when I first came to the Senate was legislation to create the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, as it has become known. It provides health insurance for children where families do not have sufficient income to purchase health insurance and are not getting health insurance in the workplace. Yet, these families make a bit too much money to qualify for coverage under the state’s Medicaid program. These low-income children and working families are falling through the cracks.
“Since 1977, the SCHIP program has contributed to a one-third decline in the rate of uninsured low-income children. Today, an estimated 6.6 million children, including more than 14,500 children living in Maine, receive health care coverage through this program. Still there is more that we could do. While Maine ranks among the top four states in reducing the number of uninsured children, we still have more than 20,000 children in our state who lack coverage.
“I will vote to override the President’s veto. We simply cannot allow this program to expire, and the extension and expansion that we are proposing will enable us to more fully cover these children.”
Last week, the House and Senate passed legislation to extend SCHIP and increase funding for the program by $35 billion over the next five years. The bill provides funding sufficient enough to cover all 6.6 million children currently enrolled and to expand to cover an additional 3.3 million low-income children. The bill also includes provisions backed by Senator Collins that would provide greater dental coverage for low-income children, require plans offering mental health benefits to provide coverage that is equivalent to other health services, and give states the option of covering low-income pregnant women.
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(Video is from Senator Collins' floor speech the week of September 24th in support of the SCHIP program)