Blue Jersey's Interview of Bob Menendez: SCHIP

by: JRB

Tue Jul 17, 2007 at 12:50:12 PM EDT

With participating states facing huge funding shortfalls, the Senator secured $650 million in supplemental appropriations for SCHIP (with $100 million coming to NJ) and he is fighting the Bush Administration's attempts to pull the rug out from under currently insured people -- 110,000 in New Jersey alone.

The federal law authorizing SCHIP will expire on September 30, and needs a re-authorization. The Bush Administration wants to eliminate all parent coverage, meaning that New Jersey's 80,000 working parents who earn enough to above the poverty line to not qualify for Medicaid will no longer be insured. Bush also wants to make it harder for children to qualify for health care -- and would stop covering 30,000 New Jersey children.

Today, the Senate Finance Committee is moving forward a bipartisan, 5 year authorization to provide insurance for those 110,000 New Jerseyans and others like them around the country.

But of course, Bush has said if he doesn't get his way, he'll veto. In response, Senator Menendez says he'd like to ask the President, "Where are your values?"

It is immoral, in my mind, to say that we can give over $100 billion dollars to people making over $200,000 per year, but we can't give $10 billion dollars over five years -- over five years -- to insure millions.