This is a very big week on the national front for SCHIP reauthorization and things are moving fast in Washington, DC on this issue.

Here is the latest information:

There is good news about the prospects for quick action on SCHIP Reauthorization.  At a meeting convened by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, key congressional staff from the House and Senate shared that Congress is aiming to have an SCHIP reauthorization bill on President Obama's desk soon after his inauguration and perhaps even on the very first day of his Presidency.  So now is the time to reach out to Congressional members to encourage their support of quick, strong action on children's health coverage. More details below:
 
1.  Timing for Action
 
House: Currently, an SCHIP reauthorization bill is slated to go to the House Rules Committee on Tuesday and to be voted on by the full House on Wednesday, January 14th.
 
Senate:  Senate leadership staff indicated that the Senate Finance Committee is hoping to release an outline of a mark on Monday, January 12th and to hold a mark up in committee on Wednesday, January 14th.  Floor action would follow. 
 
If the House and Senate pass different bills, negotiations would follow and each chamber would face another vote.
 
2.  What is in the bill?
 
The House bill will be based largely on the first version of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 ("CHIPRA 1").  Some highlights:

The House bill also includes the The Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA), which would eliminate the 5-year bar that currently prevents states from covering legally present immigrant children. 
 
The Senate bill details are more in flux, largely over the issues of how to handle an August 17th directive (i.e., the Bush Administration's policy limiting coverage under SCHIP to children below 250% of the federal poverty level) and whether or not to include ICHIA. Senate Democrats are seeking to maintain the significant Republican support for SCHIP reauthorization that we saw in 2007.
 
Next Steps

Now is a great time to solidify and strengthen support among members of Congress for a quick, strong reauthorization and to make a pitch to the media about SCHIP's importance for families by emphasizing the following points:

 
1.  Congressional efforts.  Please contact Senator Harkin and Senator Grassley and let them know the importance of a strong bill that includes immigrant children.  Also, contact your member of the United States House of Representatives:  Rep. Bruce Braley, Rep. Steve King, Rep. Leonard Boswell, Rep. Tom Latham and Rep. Dave Loebsack.

2.  Media efforts.  Please consider reaching out to your media contacts to alert them to the pending debate, to explain its importance to families in your state, and, if at all possible, to offer them the chance to talk to families who are affected by the future of SCHIP.

Resources: 
First Focus created a very useful document that compares the SCHIP bills.
Also, Kaiser has a lot of new information on the impact of the economic downturn and Medicaid.

 

Also, take a look at some great op-ed pieces in Sunday's and Monday's Des Moines Register:

Guest column: Maintain critical services, or risk deeper recession by Charlie Bruner and David Osterberg 
 

Insure all kids: Expand subsidy program; allow all families to buy in by Carrie Fitzgerald and John Aschenbrenner

 

Insure all kids: Let's mean ALL, including undocumented immigrants by Senator Jack Hatch and Senator Joe Bolkcom 

 

Please contact Carrie Fitzgerald, Senior Health Policy Associate, Child and Family Policy Center if you would like more information.  Her email address is carrief@cfpciowa.org. or call her at 515-280-9027.