11 Million Reasons to be Happy

by: Congressman Frank Pallone

Thu Feb 05, 2009 at 04:50:43 PM EST

There are 11 million new reasons to be happy today.  By now I'm sure many of you know that, yesterday, President Obama signed a bill into law that has been far too long in the making.

This landmark legislation will expand health coverage to 11 million uninsured kids through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) - up from 7.04 million last year.  In New Jersey, we'll be able to reach an additional 116,000 children through FamilyCare - reducing the ranks of uninsured children by a substantial 43 percent.

President Obama signing the CHIP bill.

It's only been a month since our new Congress got to work and less than three weeks since President Obama took the oath of office. Yet, already our new Democratic majorities are bringing about real, lasting change for our families.  Thanks to this new law, nearly four million more American children will have better access to quality healthcare.   And there is no doubt these kids will now have a far better chance to live healthy and productive lives.

Now, that has all changed.  With President Obama in the White House, this is a new era of cooperation and progressive leadership in Washington, D.C.  As I'm sure you can well imagine, it's been a tremendous honor to be a part of the change we all fought so hard for.  

As the author of this landmark legislation, it has been a pleasure to work with President Obama, and I look forward to working with him on other health care issues in the future.

With the hard economic times we find ourselves in, unemployment and uninsured rates are both on the rise. This is an issue that cuts across all ages, races, regions and income brackets - and it's our children who suffer the most. Over the past year alone, 4.1 million have lost their employer-based health care coverage - including 1.2 million children.  So, I'm very proud to report that this bill President Obama just signed into law will makes things a bit easier for those who need help the most.

I thank you all for your unwavering support of our nation's children and for keeping these issues at the forefront - not just on the computer screen, but also at the kitchen table with your family and talking with your friends and neighbors during the course of every day life.  This was not an easy bill to get passed. But thanks to your help, we can now proudly mark this as a victory for our country and for all our children.

The time for real, lasting health reform is now.  The reauthorization of CHIP will bring us one step closer to making sure every single child in America has access to the care they need and deserve.  Not only will 11 million of the most vulnerable among us now be protected, but this bill should also be viewed as a down payment on universal health care in the future.  But, as always, we need your help to make this a reality.  So if you have any ideas as to how to help bring about expanded healthcare and reform for each and every American family, please visit our website at PalloneForNewJersey.com/Health and share them with us.