According to a recent report from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), at least 10,758 Hidalgo County children remain uninsured through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as a result of the drastic budget cuts enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2003.
When given the opportunity to rectify this injustice, Rep. Aaron Pena joined 74 House Republicans and seven Craddick Democrats to defeat a Democratic amendment that would have fully funded the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Rep. Pena voted against fully funding the Children's Health Insurance Program is a perfect example of why his allegiance to Republican Speaker Tom Craddick is an issue in this campaign.
His vote against fully funding CHIP proves that pledging your absolute loyalty to this Republican Speaker means voting against the best interests of your district and denying at least 10,758 Hidalgo County children the health care they need.
Amendment 4 to House Bill 109 would have restored all of the children removed from CHIP in 2003 and would have reverted Texas to pre-2003 CHIP enrollment levels of at least 507,259 children by adding an estimated 200,000 kids back to the CHIP program.
There are at least 10,758 children in Hidalgo County who will go to sleep tonight without health care because Rep. Pena joined 74 Republicans and seven Craddick D's to vote against fully funding the Children's Health Insurance Program.
According to official HHSC statistics, 28,834 children in Hidalgo County were enrolled in CHIP in September of 2003.
Today, 10,758 of those children still do not have health care coverage. The January, 2008, CHIP enrollment for Hidalgo County was only 18,076, meaning Rep. Pena's vote against fully funding CHIP continues to leave thousands of Hidalgo County children uninsured.
One of the most pressing issues for Dist. 40 families is health care for our children. Texas has the highest number of uninsured children in the nation at 1.5 million.
More than half of the uninsured children in Texas are Hispanic. Of the 1.5 million children uninsured in Texas, approximately 850,000 of these children are eligible for CHIP or Medicaid.
It is immoral to deny a child the health care he or she needs. When my opponent voted against fully funding CHIP, he turned his back on at least 10,758 kids in Hidalgo County. If the people of HD 40 vote for change on March 4, I want them to know that I will never compromise the health care needs of Hidalgo County kids.
Rep. Pena's Record of Failure: denying children health care and voting against making more children eligible for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against fully funding CHIP. Rep. Pena joined 74 House Republicans and 7 Craddick Democrats to kill a proposal that would have restored CHIP funding to the pre-2003 levels of at least 507,259 Texas kids. (Amendment No. 4 to HB 109, Record vote #267, Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1505)
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against making more families eligible for CHIP, twice. (Amendment No. 5 to HB 109, Record vote #268 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1506, and Amendment No. 6 to HB 109, Record vote #269 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1507)
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against allowing thousands of Texas children to qualify for CHIP. (Amendment No. 10 to HB 109, Record vote #271 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1511)
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against including enrollment and renewal policies that allow for coverage under the perinatal program. (Amendment No. 17 to HB 109, Record vote #274 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1515)
About CHIP
The Children's Health Insurance Program is designed for families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford health insurance for their children. The principal goal of CHIP is to provide primary and preventive care to the uninsured children of Texas families including children with special healthcare needs. CHIP is funded jointly at the federal and state level. For every $1.00 of funding provided by Texas, Texas receives a federal match of over $2.50. The CHIP program was put in place to support the working poor, not the unemployed. Fully funding CHIP is the right, moral, decent, and economically sensible thing to do.
