House Approves SCHIP Bill That Includes Coverage For Immigrant Children, Pregnant Women

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 16 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PST

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As expected, the House on Wednesday approved a State Children's Health Insurance Program renewal and expansion bill (H.R. 2) that includes a provision that would allow states to extend public health benefits to legal immigrant pregnant women and children who have been in the country less than five years, the Washington Post reports. The bill was approved 289-139. It would extend benefits to about four million additional children and their parents, including legal immigrant children and pregnant women, bringing the total number of individuals covered under SCHIP to about 11 million. SCHIP provides health insurance benefits to children in low-income families who do not qualify for Medicaid. The bill, estimated to cost $33 billion over four-and-a-half years, would be funded in part through an increase in the federal cigarette tax of 61 cents to $1.00 per pack (Murray/Connolly, Washington Post, 1/15). Current law requires a five year waiting period for immigrant pregnant women and children before applying for coverage under SCHIP or Medicaid. According to the AP/Contra Costa Times, between 300,000 and 600,000 of the new enrollees could be non-citizen children of legal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for less than five years (Freking, AP/Contra Costa Times, 1/14).

The Post reports that the inclusion of immigrant pregnant women and children in SCHIP is a "major Republican flashpoint." A Senate version of the bill does not include the provision, but Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said he would support adding the provision as the bill moves forward. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) -- the ranking minority member on the Senate Finance Committee -- said that expanding benefits to legal immigrants would violate a 100-year-old law that requires new immigrants' sponsors to pledge that the individuals will not become a burden on taxpayers financially. President-elect Barack Obama called on the Senate to act with the "same sense of urgency" as the House "so that it can be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am president" (Washington Post, 1/15).

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