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(It's a sign of the times that as big a deal as the SCHIP expansion more or less flew below radar. Nonetheless, it is a big deal. Congratulations to Rep. Tsongas and others who made it a reality. - promoted by David)
This week, I visited the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC), a remarkable community health center which delivers primary care and a wide variety of other health care services to more than 43,000 low and moderate income patients in the Merrimack Valley.
Jon Kingsdale, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, Senator Sue Tucker, and health care professionals and advocates from Lawrence and the state joined me to celebrate an expansion of the children's health insurance program (S-CHIP), which President Obama signed into law at the beginning of the month.
For those of you who observed the Special Election in 2007, you probably remember how this issue demonstrated a clear philosophical difference between me and my Republican opponent. Much like it did between President Bush, who absurdly vetoed this legislation multiple times, and President Obama, who understood that this is an issue that is fundamental to the wellbeing of our children and the health of our nation.
With the reauthorization and expansion of S-CHIP, nearly 4 million children across the country, whose families simply cannot afford care, will now have access to the healthy start in life that they deserve. The law will ensure that seven million children who currently participate in the program will continue to receive coverage. Importantly, quality dental coverage and mental health services will now be provided to all enrolled children.
This coverage expansion and the continued coverage of children already participating in the program could not come at more critical time. The economic downturn and the resulting jobs loss have only compounded the problem of millions of children forced to live without access to affordable health care, and the new law will help to alleviate some of this strain on families.
We in Massachusetts are fortunate that many of the children in our state are already covered, but this expansion will provide a dedicated and predictable funding stream to help cover that cost - this funding stream is a critical component of our universal Massachusetts Health Care Plan which depends upon funding from government, employers and individuals.
I know we had some spirited debates about health care during the campaign and in the coming weeks and months we will be turning our attention to national health care reform. The challenges associated with universal health care are of course considerable. I will continue to advocate for a system that provides guaranteed access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans quickly, equitably, and cost-effectively. I look forward to hearing from you as this debate continues.
