Members are urged to contact Pennsylvania’s US Senators Arlen Specter and Robert Casey, Jr. immediately. Both senators voted to support the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA). Members should do two things during their contacts:
- Thank the senators for their support of this important federal legislation. Besides the national implications of this bill, it has direct impacts in Pennsylvania.
- Urge both senators to support a veto override later this month.
National
Council Urges Thanks For Medicaid
When the House and Senate passed the CHIPRA two weeks ago the measure also
included a six-month moratorium on the issuance of new rules from the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on both the Medicaid rehabilitative
services option and school-based services. Senator Casey has been a key supporter
of this provision and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
(NCCBH) urges all members in Pennsylvania to contact him thanking him for
his support for the Medicaid rulemaking moratorium.
A model letter, to be placed on your organization’s letterhead, is available online at www.thenationalcouncil.org/galleries/policy-file/Rehab%20thank%20you%20letter%20template.doc. Letters should be faxed to the attention of Morna Murray in Senator Casey’s office at 202-228-0604. Ms. Murray has previously met with PCPA members on a variety of issues.
Follow
Up
Both NCCBH and PCPA would like to track member participation in this effort.
Please let us know you participated, share the response you received, and
share a copy of your letter with Melissa
DiSanto Simmons, PCPA’s director of legislative affairs.
Additional
Resources
To read a summary of CHIPRA, prepared by the Center for Children and Families
at Georgetown University, access http://ccf.georgetown.edu/pdfs/0928ccfchippra.pdf.
The US Senate Finance Committee has prepared a fact sheet entitled The Agreement to Renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program: Separating Fact from Fiction. Access this fact sheet online at www.finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2007press/prb092507c.pdf.
The Annenberg Political Fund Fact Check web site has also prepared a piece refuting the president’s claims that CHIPRA would lead to crowd-out and create coverage for children in high-income families. To read their issue brief visit www.factcheck.org/bushs_false_claims_about_childrens_health_insurance.html.
