A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Rep. Lois Capps)

To paraphrase the title of one of my grandkids’ favorite books, Wednesday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. At least as far as children’s health care went.

That’s because Wednesday President Bush and a few of my Republican colleagues succeeded for a second time in derailing a common sense, bipartisan bill that that would have provided health insurance to 10 million children through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Our bill would have provided an additional $35 billion to this successful program, ensuring coverage for 10 million of our country’s neediest children — more than 6 million who are currently enrolled and an additional 3.8 million who qualify for the program but remain without coverage due to a lack of funding. In California alone more than 600,000 children would have gained health insurance had this bill been enacted. It’s unconscionable that a program that enjoys such strong support from Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress, as well as Governors of both parties, and most importantly from a majority of the American people, could be defeated by the misguided opposition of a few individuals.

As this economic downturn continues to threaten the jobs and challenge the budgets of hardworking American families, more children will face the uncertain prospect of lacking health insurance when they get hurt or sick and will have to forgo the important preventative care like regular check-ups. Coupled with looming state budget cuts and the Bush Administration’s continued efforts to restrict access to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the immediate outlook for the health care of our nation’s neediest children is bleak at best.

Despite Wednesday’s setback I will continue my efforts to press for all important health care for our most precious resource, our children.