Speech #1100020870

And most are fiercely proud to call themselves Americans. Yet. in 1996. Congress denied safety net services to legal immigrants who had been in the country for less than five years. Today. Senator SNowE and I are introducing legislation that would take a first step towards correcting that injustice. The Legal Immigrant Childrens Health Improvement Act will allow States to use Federal funds to make the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and Medicaid available to legal immigrant pregnant women and children who are within the five year ban. There is tremendous need for this legislation. An Urban Institute study found that children of immigrants under the age of 6 years are two times as likely to be in fair or poor health compared to sameage children of natives. whereas 6 to 17 year old children of immigrants are almost three times as likely to be in fair or poor health. While most children receive preventative medical care. such as vaccines and routine dental care. too often immigrant children do not. They are forced to forego treatment and can ultimately end up seeking needed care in emergency roomsthe least costeffective place to provide care. To make matters worse. minor illnesses. which would be easily treated by a pediatrician. may snowball into lifethreatening conditions. And women without access to prenatal care are four times more likely to deliver low birth weight Infants and seven times more likely to deliver prematurely than women who receive prenatal care. according to the Institute of Medicine. All of these health outcomes are costly to society and to the individuals Involved. Today. 16 States. including New York and Maine. use State funds to provide healthcare services to legal immigrant pregnant women and children within the five year waiting period. An additional six States provide some coverage to either pregnant woman or children. The Legal Immigrant Childrens Health Improvement has been endorsed by a wide range of organizations including Asian American Justice Center. Catholic Health Association. National Immigration Law Center. National Health Law Program. Families USA. and National Council of La Raza and I want to thank them for their support. This year Congress will reauthorize the SCHIP program and it is my hope that we will finally eliminate the unfair ban on legal immigrant children and pregnant woman by Incorporating the Immigrant Childrens Health Improvement Act into the reauthorization of SCHIP. I look forward to working with Senator SNOWE and my colleagues to enact this bill into law. By Mr.