Press Release

Washington, D.C. — Today, in anticipation of the House of Representatives voting to pass H.R.976, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (Md.-07) released the following statement:

“CHIP has been an extremely successful, bipartisan program that has changed the lives of millions of children who would otherwise be left without health coverage. Voting to pass today’s bill sends a very strong, clear message to Americans that Congress will not abide by the President’s foolhardy policy of spending billions of dollars a month in Iraq while ignoring the needs of children right here in our own backyard.

“While I prefer having a bill with more funding to cover more children, I am pleased that we were able to take this critical step today. This bill makes fundamental improvements to CHIP—which provides health coverage to children whose parents earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance plans—including the expansion of the program to 3.8 million children who are currently eligible for the program but not already enrolled.

“Furthermore, the reauthorization of CHIP includes a guaranteed dental benefit, quality assurance measures regarding access to dental care, and two specific provisions that I authored which significantly improve children’s access to dental care in the CHIP program. These provisions would educate new mothers on the importance of oral health and streamline state contracting practices.

“I cannot stress enough the importance of these dental benefits; one need only look to the tragic story of Deamonte Driver, a twelve-year-old Maryland boy who died earlier this year when a tooth infection spread to his brain. A simple $80 procedure could have saved Deamonte’s life, but he was poor and never made it into a dental chair.

“While Deamonte’s case was extreme, he was by no means alone in his suffering. It is unacceptable for the wealthiest country in the world, with our level of technology and medical advancements, to allow such gross negligence to occur.

“The support for CHIP goes beyond the 6.6 million children currently enrolled in the program who are in danger of losing their health coverage. It goes beyond the 3.8 million children who will benefit from the improvements included in CHIP’s reauthorization. This is a program that is supported by a broad majority in the Senate. It is supported by 43 governors. It is supported by hundreds of organizations representing millions of Americans.

“I call upon President Bush to stop trying to mislead the American people by manipulating the truth about CHIP, and I encourage my Republican colleagues in the House to stop playing the President’s game of Politics while putting the health of millions of children at risk.”

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