Question
Will the candidate's plan expand health coverage for America's uninsured children?
The Issue
All kids need health insurance for a healthy start. Access to health coverage not only ensures that kids receive the preventive care and doctor visits they need, but it also makes them more likely to start school healthy and ready to achieve.19 Moreover, childhood health problems like asthma, anemia, and ear infections that go undiagnosed or untreated can affect not only a child’s ability to excel in the classroom, but also his or her lifelong chance of success.20 Recognizing the importance of investing in children’s health, Congress created the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Since 1997, CHIP has provided health insurance for millions of children in working families whose parents don’t make quite enough to cover the high cost of coverage.
CHIP has drastically reduced the number of American children who live without health insurance, but 9 million children—one out of every eight kids—remain uninsured today.21 The American public believes that this must change: 70 percent of Americans agree that ensuring that every child has access to quality health coverage should be a top priority for Congress and the President.22 In 2007 and 2008, legislation that would have extended CHIP and expanded its reach to cover nearly half of America’s uninsured children received bipartisan support in Congress, but it was not reauthorized due to a presidential veto. Congress ultimately passed only a one-year extension of CHIP. It is now the next president’s job to help reauthorize CHIP and expand coverage to America’s 9 million uninsured children.
The Positions
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Senator McCain: Senator McCain’s health care plan does not include specific proposals to expand health insurance to more of America’s children. Senator McCain voted against the legislation that would have reauthorized and expanded CHIP in both 2007 and 2008. |
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Senator Obama: Senator Obama’s health plan requires that all children have health insurance, and it will help achieve this by extending and expanding the CHIP program. Senator Obama voted in favor of the legislation to reauthorize and expand CHIP in both 2007 and 2008. |
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Footnotes
19 Campaign for Children's Health Care, Why Health Insurance Matters for Children (Washington: Families USA, July 2006).
20 Institute of Medicine, Health Insurance Is a Family Matter (Washington: The National Academies Press, September 2002).
21 Campaign for Children's Health Care, op. cit.
22 Campaign for Children's Health Care, July 2006 National Survey Key Findings (Washington: Families USA, July 2006). |
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