Executive Summary

Two weeks ago, the House and Senate passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA), which would reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). On Wednesday, President Bush vetoed the bill, which would not only reauthorize and expand this important program for children but also includes 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. Go to the Senate's website at www.senate.gov to see if your Senator supported this provision and thank them for their support for the Medicaid rulemaking moratorium if they did.

Action Needed

The National Council urges all members in states whose Senators supported the Medicaid Rulemaking Moratorium in the SCHIP package to thank them for their advocacy on this important issue.

Please let the National Council know if you contact your Senator on this issue. Contact Allison Fort at AllisonF@thenationalcouncil.org to let us know you participated, share the response you received, and share a copy of your letter.

Additional Resources

Summary of CHIPRA, prepared by the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. 

The Senate Finance Committee has prepared a fact sheet entitled “The Agreement to Renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program: Separating Fact from Fiction.” 

The Annenberg Political Fund Fact Check website 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.