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