Today, Congresswoman Connie Morella joined with Congresswoman Diana DeGette in introducing The Improved Maternal and Children’s Health Coverage Act of 1999. The legislation would expand health coverage for uninsured children by improving the outreach to and enrollment of children into Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Congresswoman Morella said, "Over 11 million of our nation’s children are uninsured. A sizeable majority of these children remain without health insurance despite their eligibility for either Medicaid or SCHIP coverage." Approximately 5 million of the nation’s uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid; another 4 million could be covered by SCHIP. Together, Medicaid and SCHIP could provide coverage for 80% of the uninsured children in the country.

Morella added, "I am pleased to join with Congresswoman DeGette in the introduction of this critical legislation. We are committed to the task of ensuring that our nation’s children have access to quality health care."

The DeGette-Morella legislation would remove the obstacles that families face in order to obtain health insurance coverage for their children. For example, one barrier to enrollment is the complexity of the registration process. The bill would simplify the enrollment procedures for the SCHIP and Medicaid programs so that families are able to access health care in a more simplified and user-friendly fashion. Congresswoman Morella remarked, “Our nation should not accept the fact that millions of eligible children are uninsured because of barriers such as lengthy application forms.” Children should be able to receive important health care without burdening the family. States would be required to develop and use a uniform, simplified application form to determine eligibility for both Medicaid and the SCHIP program.

The Improved Maternal and Children’s Health Coverage Act of 1999 also includes provisions to give states additional flexibility under SCHIP to cover pregnant women and legal immigrant children.

Studies have shown that children without health insurance are less likely to get preventative care or see a doctor when they are sick. They are more likely to report poor health, and to get treatment in a hospital emergency room. Congresswoman Morella remarked that the new legislation, "will give government and community-based organizations the tools needed to improve health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured children. We must assure that this quality health care is available and accessible to the most vulnerable of all populations, our children."