PTA to Congress, President: Reauthorize SCHIP Now!

PTA is very disappointed that President Bush vetoed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). No government program has been more successful in helping children receive critical preventative care including immunizations, hearing and vision exams, and regular check-ups.

A healthy child is a teachable child. Sickness, hunger, vision impairment, physical and sexual abuse, tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use, social and emotional problems, unhealthy dietary habits, and a lack of physical activity inhibit students’ ability to learn.

Since its inception in 1997, the number of uninsured children has fallen by almost a third, and today SCHIP covers 6.6 million children. However, 9 million children remain without basic health coverage, a full 11.7 percent of all U.S. children. Furthermore, in just the past two years the percentage of uninsured children has grown with 39 states seeing increases.

While our schools work hard to improve academic performance and reach the goal of proficiency of all students, we are ignoring a key factor in students’ ability to learn—their overall health. PTA supports legislation to assist states and localities to develop and fund comprehensive child health care programs and provide access to quality, affordable health care. SCHIP does just that.

The SCHIP debate should not be about money or partisan politics. This debate must be about priorities. PTA urges Congress and the Administration to resolve their differences and arrive at an agreement on the reauthorization of this critical program.

Our nation’s priority for the past few years has been to protect our country, now our priority must be to secure our country’s future. To quote the Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981, “Children are one third of our population and all of our future.”