Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America

Healthcare news clips 3/31

Healthcare

D.C. Plan Could Aid Uninsured, The Washington Post (March 29, 2008): A D.C. Council member will propose a sweeping plan next week to mandate health-care coverage for all District residents by offering a city-subsidized program for the uninsured that would be funded through new taxes on health companies and cigarettes.

            Medicaid

            Medicare

Medicare’s Financial Woes, The New York Times (March 28, 2008 op-ed): Warnings that Medicare spending is growing at an unsustainable rate come with mind-numbing regularity, so it was no surprise that the latest report from the Medicare trustees found that the system is still headed for a financial abyss. Medicare’s problems get scant attention on the campaign trail but will demand strong corrective action by the next president.

            SCHIP

Children need your help!

Despite strong support from the U.S. Congress and the American people, President Bush vetoed the SCHIP bill earlier this month. The bill, which passed both the House and the Senate on a bi-partisan basis, would have provided an additional $35 billion over five years to keep children already receiving health care coverage, and to provide insurance to nearly four million more children whose health is at risk due to lack of proper health coverage. The President vetoed the bill not because the funding passed by Congress exceeded the $5 billion over five years that his Administration had requested, but because of ideological differences about how to expand health coverage to poor Americans. The President has, however, recently expressed a willingness to compromise with Congress on renewing SCHIP; thanks to those of you who expressed your disappointment with the White House on this issue. Contacting your Representative will go a long way to shoring up support for this important legislation.  Click here for more information on our positions on SCHIP.

Improving public policies that promote the health of our nation's children is a key issue area of Catholic Charities USA's Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America.  This month, be take part in the Campaign by calling on our nation's leaders to protect children's health!  Take Action Today

Hunger Alert: Ask Your Representative to Help Hungry Americans

House Moves Forward on Farm Bill, Food Stamp Reauthorization

The United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture will be considering the 2007 Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) the week of July 16th. The Farm Bill has many purposes, one of them being the reauthorization of the federal Food Stamp Program. Thirty-five million people struggle with hunger in America. While more than 26 million people a month currently benefit from the Food Stamp Program, approximately 40 percent of those eligible for food stamps are not receiving them. The reauthorization of the 2007 Farm Bill is an opportunity to strengthen the domestic nutrition programs so these crucial programs reach all hungry people who need them.

ACTION NEEDED: Click on "Take Action" and enter your zip code to send a message to your Representative in the U.S. House TODAY!

Children's Health Alert: Help Raise Awareness in Your Community

When Congress returns from its week-long July 4th recess, committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate will begin debating legislation to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

SCHIP provides high quality, vital health coverage to 6 million children whose families would otherwise be unable to afford insurance, but more than 9 million children in America go without health insurance. It's time that all our nation's children got the health coverage they need. We need your help to raise awareness in your community about this critical program and the need to ensure that all eligible children receive health coverage by sending letters to the editors of your local newspapers.

We need your help to spread the word!

	Take Action!

ACTION NEEDED: Click on "Take Action" and enter your zip code to find contact information for your local media outlets and a sample letter to the editor to get you started. We strongly encourage you to personalize this letter to paint a picture of issues in your community and what you may be doing to help.

Click here for more information on Catholic Charities USA's positions on SCHIP.

Senate Finance Committee Fails to Move SCHIP Before July

This week, leaders in the U.S. Senate Finance Committee failed to come to an agreement that would move legislation to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Without reauthorization, SCHIP will expire on September 30th, 2007.

Catholic Charities USA continues to urge the Senate and the House to move forward quickly in reauthorizing the program. We continue to call for significant improvements to the program, including simplifying the application processes, providing coverage for eligible but not enrolled children, and removing restrictions to legal immigrant children and pregnant women. In a joint letter from Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Health Association, and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Catholic leaders urged the Senate Finance Committee to fully utilize the $50 billion provided for SCHIP reauthorization in the budget resolution, both to maintain coverage for children currently in SCHIP and allow states to enroll six million uninsured children who are eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid.

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to move aggressively on SCHIP reauthorization after the July 4th recess.  On the House side, staff has indicated that the Energy and Commerce Committee will start discussions during the second week of July.  In July, please look for critical opportunities to take action as the Senate and House move forward on legislation.

Children's Health Still Matters!

Since the creation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Catholic Charities agencies across the country and Catholic Charities USA have worked aggressively to ensure that children would benefit from the program. During the Children’s Health Matters initiative, we assisted nearly 600,000 families in applying for Medicaid and SCHIP, held 8,500 community education events about the availability of insurance, and worked with state Medicaid agencies to simplify enrollment.

Our commitment to children’s health care remains strong today— we must press on towards the goal It’s time that all our nation’s children got the health coverage they need. Let your Senator know children’s health still matters

ACTION NEEDED the Senate Finance Committee is currently drafting legislation to change SCHIP. Ask your Senator to craft SCHIP policy that:

• Ensures the full $50 billon provided by the Budget Resolution will be available for program improvements
• Simplifies the SCHIP enrollment and application process for families
• Continues allowing states to insure children in families above 200 percent of poverty;
• Allows states to serve vulnerable populations, including immigrant children and pregnant women and youth aging out of foster care; and
• Fixes the citizenship documentation requirement

To see a list of Senators on the Finance Committee, click

BACKGROUND: SCHIP provides high quality, vital health coverage to 6 million children whose families would otherwise be unable to afford insurance.

For more information, please contact Desmond Brown, dbrown@catholiccharitiesusa.org, or Karen Wong, kwong@catholiccharitiesusa.org,