IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
For release : Embargoed until 10 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007
Contact: Lana Oppenheim Schlapkohl, 515-471-8026, LOppenheim@isea.org

Advocacy groups urge Iowa's congressional delegation to override threatened veto

Thousands of children will be denied health insurance and left behind

DES MOINES, Iowa - In the face of a threatened veto, Congress has an opportunity in the coming days to keep its commitment to children's health insurance, for thousands in Iowa and millions nationally.

"What's getting lost in this high-stakes game of chicken is that real kids could lose health care," said Charles Bruner, executive director of the Child & Family Policy Center.

"By conservative estimates, 1 in 11 Iowans go without insurance," Bruner said. "Among children the estimates vary, but the latest Census data indicate the number is around 44,000 Iowa children without insurance."

"President Bush's veto threat is an insult to Iowa's children and their parents." Said Jan Reinicke, Iowa State Education Association executive director.

Bruner and Reinicke noted their appreciation for Congressmen Latham, Boswell, Braley, and Loebsack voting for the SCHIP package Tuesday evening.  The concern turns to the override vote in the House and the possibility House members of President Bush's Republican Party will fall in line with the President and not vote for the veto override.

"The question is, will Congressmen Tom Latham and Steve King work for thousands of Iowa's kids and vote to override the President's veto or will they stand with President Bush and prevent Iowa children from receiving necessary health care coverage?" Reinicke said. 

About 37,000 Iowa kids currently receive health insurance due to funding from the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, a joint federal-state initiative to provide coverage to children in families who have too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford quality coverage independently or through employment. SCHIP funds Iowa's "Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa," or hawk-i, program.

"SCHIP and Medicaid have done a good job of reducing uninsurance among Iowa kids to that 44,000, but obviously we have a ways to go," Bruner said. "The agreement reached in Congress is a reasonable bipartisan compromise, and would reach about 4 million more kids. Something of that scale - about $35 billion over five years - is what's necessary to keep making progress."
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"The issue is priorities," Reinicke said.  "President Bush has spent half a trillion dollars in Iraq and says that $35 billion for children's health insurance is too expensive.  For the amount of money President Bush spends in Iraq in one week, eight hundred thousand children could receive health care across the country and the 44,000 children in Iowa who desperately need health care coverage might have an opportunity to receive needed care.  The needs of our children and priorities at home like education as well as health care have been shortchanged for far too long. As the President who promised to 'leave no child behind,' President Bush should know that in order for education to make a difference in the life of a child, that child has to be healthy enough to show up for school and pay attention."

Bruner and Reinicke credited Sen. Charles Grassley and Gov. Chet Culver of Iowa for their work to encourage the current agreement.

"This truly is a bipartisan issue," Bruner said. "We've seen that since the program's inception 10 years ago. And that's important in Iowa, because without new legislation with new resources for SCHIP, Iowa will, at best, continue to have shortfalls in funding for this program. Just continuing the program as-is will not allow Iowa to keep pace with the health-care needs of those SCHIP and hawk-I are now reaching."

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service this month predicted Iowa and 12 other states would face immediate shortfalls in funding Oct. 1 (next Monday) without a new agreement. The report notes Iowa would have no leftover funds from the past two fiscal years, as some states do, and would be short $69 million.

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The Iowa State Education Association is a professional association made up of more than 32,000 educators who are dedicated to promoting and preserving quality public education for all students. Great Education. It's an Iowa Basic!

The Child and Family Policy Center (CFPC) was established in 1989 by former Iowa legislator Charles Bruner to better link research and policy on issues vital to children and families and to advocate for evidenced-based strategies to improve child outcomes.