Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today spoke in favor of quickly passing a bill that would provide more New Mexico children – and some adults -- with health care.

Bingaman is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which wrote the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization of 2009 the Senate is currently debating.  Bingaman was able to include several key provisions in the bill, which expands and extends the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – a federal-state initiative that provides health care to children whose families are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. 

"SCHIP is particularly important to my home state," Bingaman said in a Senate floor speech.  "New Mexicans have a very difficult time acquiring health insurance and we remain the second most uninsured state in the nation.  Currently, more than 30,000 New Mexicans depend on SCHIP for coverage. Under this legislation, my state would receive $196 million for SCHIP this year -- 277 percent increase over the state's current CHIP allotment.  This represents the fourth largest percentage increase of any state.  With this funding, tens-of-thousands of additional low-income New Mexico children -- and some adults -- would have access to health care for the first time." 

The bill contains Bingaman's proposal to ensure that New Mexicans aren't denied Medicaid or CHIP because they haven't been able to meet new citizenship documentation requirements – for example, because they don't have a passport.  Under current regulations, an estimated 10,000 New Mexican citizen children may have lost or been denied coverage because of these requirements. 

Bingaman was also able to include a provision that will automatically enroll children in SCHIP if they have already been deemed eligible for another public program with comparable income standards, such as the National School Lunch Program or the Food Stamp Program. 

The bill contains many other provisions that are important to Bingaman, such as a mandate to provide dental coverage for children receiving SCHIP benefits as well as a "wrap" provision Bingaman added to allow children with private coverage who don't receive dental benefits to receive such benefits through SCHIP.   Another provision improves outreach capabilities aimed at enrolling more Native American children.

Bingaman said the time had come to get this bill to President Obama's desk. 

"We passed this bill in Congress last year only to have it vetoed.  Given the economic climate and the number of Americans losing their jobs and health insurance, it's my hope we can get this bill signed into law in a matter of weeks," Bingaman said.