FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, February 11, 2008

MEDIA CONTACTS

Shea-Porter - Clark Pettig (202) 225-5456

Hodes - Brooke Borkenhagen (202) 225-5206

Shea-Porter and Hodes Lead Effort to Protect Healthy Kids

NH Representatives Leading the Fight to Preserve Coverage for 2,000 kids in the Granite State

Washington, DC – First District Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter and Second District Congressman Paul Hodes sent a letter today to the House leadership urging them to take action to address recent restrictions that could threaten the health care coverage of several thousand children in New Hampshire.

In the letter, Shea-Porter and Hodes called on Congress to act swiftly to reverse new regulations that the Bush Administration has imposed upon the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  The letter has 91 bipartisan co-signers.

“Congress needs to act quickly to prevent this blow to New Hampshire families,” Congressman Hodes said.  “If this problem is not fixed, over 2,000 children in the Granite State will lose their health care coverage.” 

“The President and his administration weren’t satisfied with just blocking millions of uninsured kids from enrolling for health insurance coverage,” said Congresswoman Shea-Porter. “Now they are actively seeking to remove coverage from qualified middle class children of working parents, and I think it is disgraceful.”

In August, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a directive requiring states to reach 95% participation rates for SCHIP among the lowest-income segments of their populations – families earning below 250% of the Federal Poverty Line – in order to continue providing coverage children at slightly higher income levels.

No state has been able to achieve this level of participation. In New Hampshire, the new regulations would effectively force the state to drop over 2,000 children from the Healthy Kids Program.

Tricia Brooks, Administrator of the New Hampshire Healthy Kids program, applauded the efforts of Shea-Porter and Hodes: “Congresswoman Shea-Porter and Congressman Hodes have been strong advocates for SCHIP and Healthy Kids.  We are grateful for their leadership on this critically important issue.”

Brooks continued: “The predictability of a full SCHIP reauthorization is essential for states to move forward in covering children. In the interim, time is running out for states that must come into compliance with CMS. Congress must take action to ensure that New Hampshire and other states can continue to operate their highly successful programs under rules that were put into place a decade ago and extended through March 2009. Without a moratorium on this decision, New Hampshire and other states will be forced to cut back their programs and move backwards in covering kids.”

The full text of the letter is attached. See file [shea-porter_hodes_letter.pdf]