| |
| |
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Created in 1997, the State Children's Health |
|
|
Insurance Program (SCHIP) was established to provide health |
|
|
coverage to low-income children in families who are not eligible |
|
|
for Medicaid and has since become a crucial component of the |
|
|
nation's health care safety net; according to the United States |
|
|
Government Accountability Office, SCHIP covered more than five |
|
|
million children nationwide in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2005; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The appeal of the program can be attributed |
|
|
primarily to the unfortunate fact that so many American families |
|
|
are in desperate need of health coverage; one-third of the |
|
|
population under 65 went without health insurance for some or all of |
|
|
2002 and 2003, and in 2004, 15.7 percent of the nation's total |
|
|
population was without health coverage, including 8.3 million |
|
|
uninsured children; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The situation in Texas is even worse; the United |
|
|
States Census Bureau reports that the state has consistently |
|
|
experienced a 60 percent higher rate of uninsured individuals than |
|
|
the rest of the country; moreover, in 2005, 25.1 percent of the |
|
|
state's total population had no health insurance and 43.4 percent |
|
|
of Texans under the age of 65 went without health coverage at some |
|
|
point during all or part of 2002 and 2003; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The problem is statewide in scope; although five |
|
|
counties--Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant, and El Paso--account for |
|
|
nearly half of the state's uninsured, many rural counties are |
|
|
experiencing growing populations of uninsured; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The lack of health coverage is not just a matter of |
|
|
affordability; in Texas, 79 percent of the uninsured are employed |
|
|
but work where employer-sponsored health insurance is not available |
|
|
and, according to the Task Force for Access to Health Care in Texas, |
|
|
many Texas industries are actually reducing health coverage to |
|
|
their employees; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, SCHIP was specifically designed to address the |
|
|
limited availability of health coverage and help states provide |
|
|
inexpensive preventive care to children in order to moderate |
|
|
costlier medical interventions later in life; but in the face of |
|
|
this insurance crisis, SCHIP is scheduled to sunset in August 2007, |
|
|
and funding for the program must be reauthorized by the United |
|
|
States Congress; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The original authorization for SCHIP included an |
|
|
allocation of approximately $40 billion to be distributed over 10 |
|
|
years, but by 2002 many states were projecting that their programs |
|
|
would exceed their allotments; acknowledging the value of SCHIP, |
|
|
congress appropriated an additional $283 million for the program in |
|
|
FFY 2006; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, With growing numbers of the uninsured and the |
|
|
program's obvious success, the importance of SCHIP to the children |
|
|
of Texas and the nation cannot be overstated; having previously |
|
|
acted to sustain SCHIP funding and thereby recognizing the |
|
|
program's significance to the health of our nation, it is |
|
|
appropriate that congress reauthorize SCHIP funding as quickly as |
|
|
possible; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to |
|
|
timely reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program; |
|
|
and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
|
|
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, the |
|
|
speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the |
|
|
senate of the United States Congress, and all members of the Texas |
|
|
delegation to the congress with the request that this resolution be |
|
|
officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the |
|
|
Congress of the United States of America. |