WASHINGTON, D.C. - A bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives today passed an expacnsive health care bill to provide insurance coverage for millions of children and improve and strengthen Medicare for America`s seniors and people with disabilities. It was approved by a vote of 225 to 204.
“Nobody, Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative believes that these children should not be entitled to healthcare," said Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY). “Expanding SCHIP to cover 11 million children isn’t just the right and moral thing to do but in terms of being fiscally responsible, everybody would tell you that having a kid exposed to preventative care actually costs less money than just ignoring care they need. I’m certain that at the end of the day, the children are going to win. Every major advocate for children and health and hospitals and doctors has signed up to say do the right thing and pass this bill."
Last week the leadership of the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees unveiled the Children`s Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act of 2007 as legislation that provides for the health care needs from the "Greatest Generation" to the next generation.
The legislation, which is fully paid for, is the product of months of intensive hearings by the Health Subcommittees of Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce.
To listen to Democratic leaders talking about the CHAMP Act, click here
