Sen. Johanns issues statement on SCHIP

WASHINGTON -- Today (Friday, Jan. 30, 2009), Sen. Mike Johanns made the following statement after voting against the proposal to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP):

"As Governor, I rolled out Nebraska's Kids Connection program using SCHIP funds. We reduced the number of uninsured children in our state by nearly 50 percent and it was regarded as one of the most successful programs in the nation.

"Unfortunately, the rest of the nation did not meet the same standard of success as we did in Nebraska. Today, 62 percent of uninsured children across the country are still not signed up to get the benefits they are qualified to receive through Medicaid and SCHIP.

"At the beginning of the week, I made it clear that while I strongly support the SCHIP program, I had some very serious concerns about expanding this program to middle-class families making up to $88,000 a year before ensuring the most needy and vulnerable children in our country had access to health care.

"I had proposed a number of solutions that would have addressed my concerns and allowed me to support final passage of the SCHIP re-authorization legislation. Over the last few days, I co-sponsored a number of amendments, and even a comprehensive alternative plan, which I believe would have vastly improved the SCHIP proposal. However, not enough of my colleagues joined me in supporting these proposals to make the legislation fiscally responsible and attentive to those who are most in need. Therefore, I could not vote for this legislation to expand the SCHIP program to families making up to $36,000 over the average American family.

"I do however remain a strong supporter of SCHIP as there is no doubt this is a critical program that provides health care to children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but still cannot afford private health insurance for their family. I will continue working to see that our nation's children who are most in need of health care are covered by this program."