 "I call on you to reconsider your
threat to veto the State Children's Health Insurance Program
reauthorization bill currently being considered by Congress. The
SCHIP program has been extremely successful in helping to provide
health care for 316,781 Illinois children," said Blagojevich.The
governor has been working tirelessly with the Illinois delegation,
as well as other governors, to ensure that funding continues for the
SCHIP program, which has helped to provide health care for over
316,000 Illinois children. The current SCHIP formula, which is
partially based on the number of low-income children who do not have
health care, penalizes Illinois for taking action to provide health
care to more children.
The governor has asked Congress to move quickly to reauthorize
SCHIP and revise its funding formulas. Earlier this month, both the
House and the Senate passed bills that will provide substantial
additional dollars to allow states to expand coverage to additional
low-income children.
In January, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured,
one of the nation's most respected independent health policy
research organizations, released a report crediting Blagojevich's
administration for sparking a national movement to provide health
care to all children. Over the last year, Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts have followed Illinois' lead to provide health care to
more uninsured children, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
has announced his proposal to do the same.
Shortly after taking office in 2003, Blagojevich increased the
income threshold for children in KidCare from 185 percent of the
federal poverty level to 200 percent, and in November 2005, the
governor signed the All Kids program into law, making health care
affordable for the families of every uninsured child in the state.
All Kids made Illinois the first state in the nation to offer
affordable, comprehensive health coverage to every uninsured child.
Under Blagojevich, the state has provided health coverage to more
than 316,000 children who didn't have it before.
Blagojevich also worked to further expand FamilyCare by
increasing the eligibility level for benefits on three occasions,
from 133 percent of the federal poverty level (annual household
income of $25,740 for a family of four) to 185 percent of the
federal poverty level (an annual household income of $35,796 for a
family of four). Under Blagojevich, more than 500,000 Illinoisans
now have health care who did not before.
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The governor's All Kids program makes comprehensive health insurance
available to all uninsured children and covers immunizations, doctor
visits and many other health care services, such as hospital stays,
prescription drugs, vision care and dental care, as well as medical
devices like eyeglasses and asthma inhalers. Parents pay monthly
premiums and co-payments for a variety of services.
The text of the governor's letter is below:
President George W.
Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I call on you to
reconsider your threat to veto the State Children's Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP) reauthorization bill currently being considered by
Congress.
Earlier this month
both the House and the Senate took important steps toward expanding
healthcare for children. Both the House and Senate bills provide
substantial additional dollars to allow states to expand coverage to
additional low-income children.
The SCHIP program
has been extremely successful in helping to provide healthcare for
316,781 Illinois children.
As the former
Governor of Texas, you know how important it is for states to have
flexibility in implementing federal programs. This legislation
maintains critical flexibilities to allow states to tailor programs
to their needs instead of providing a one-size-fits-all solution.
Again, I urge you
to reconsider your veto threat on the SCHIP bill and put children
first.
Sincerely,
Rod R. Blagojevich
Governor
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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