Albany, NY — In response to the possible House vote reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program tomorrow, a coalition of New York community groups and health advocates issued the following statement:
“House Republicans should be focused on extending and expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program and funding for hospitals and health centers, but not at the expense of gutting other areas of health care. Their plan will punish families who miss a payment and take away aid from hundreds of thousands of families in Puerto Rico who need our full support.”
The House bill, which is poised to move forward on Thursday, would:
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Reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but with $10.5 billion in cuts to the Prevention and Public Health Fund (ACA Prevention Fund).
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Punish working families by letting health insurers terminate health coverage if a consumer is only 30 days late on just one premium payment.
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Penalize higher income middle class families, requiring them to pay premiums that cover the full cost of parts of their coverage. The result would mean middle-income families losing their coverage altogether.
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Result in 900,000 Puerto Ricans being cut from Medicaid – more than half of total enrollment. At a time when aid to the people of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands is critical, the House bill falls severely short of what those US territories need in enhanced federal financial support for their Medicaid programs.
“New York’s Members of Congress must stop the vote on reauthorizing CHIP, return to bipartisan negotiations on how to pay for it, and ensure a swift passage that will save our children’s health care, our hospitals, and health centers.”
Co-Signers: Citizen Action of New York, Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS, Health Care for All New York, Action Together Long Island (ATLI), Long Island Save Our Healthcare Alliance, Empire Justice Center, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc, Long Island Progressive Coalition, Fiscal Policy Institute, Strong Economy For All Coalition, Greater NYC for Change, New York Nurses Association, Medicaid Matters NY, Young Invincibles, Children’s Defense Fund New York, Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign, Actors Fund, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Raising Women’s Voices NY, Alliance for Quality Education, Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY, New Yorkers for Accessible Health Coverage, Human Services Council, New York Immigration Coalition, Central New York Citizens in Action, Make the Road New York, Community Voices Heard, VOCAL-NY, New York Communities for Change, Hedge Clippers
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