HARRISBURG, JUNE 25, 2007 - State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today joined Pennsylvania’s highest ranking elected officials in calling on the federal government to abandon plans to take away the health insurance of thousands of children.

“We have finally reached a time in Pennsylvania where all children can be covered,” Tartaglione said. “But the administration now threatens to pull the rug out from under low-income families just as they were getting back on their feet. It’s unfair and it’s bad public policy.”

Tartaglione was joined by Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and U.S. Sen. Robert Casey at a Capitol rally calling on the Bush administration to drop plans to change eligibility requirements for the federal SCHIP program that helps provide funding for Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Now ten years old, SCHIP faces reauthorization this year before it expires in September.

The rally was organized by the Service Employees International Union, one of the world’s largest healthcare unions. Members talked about the cost of treating patients in emergency rooms because they could not afford primary care doctor visits and about young patients whose lives might have been saved with earlier treatment.

“We have a moral obligation to preserve the health of children,” Tartaglione said. “At the same time, we have an obligation to all taxpayers to do what we can to stem the rising cost of health care. Health insurance for children is one way of both saving lives and saving money.”
Under the Bush Administration’s current SCHIP reauthorization proposal, the federal government would take away state eligibility guidelines and lower SCHIP eligibility from 235 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent, forcing states to make tough decisions about thousands of currently insured children.

Under Pennsylvania’s recently initiated “Cover All Kids” program, all children in Pennsylvania have access to health insurance, although some families would have to pay a small premium.