Catholic Charities Continues Fight for Children's Health Insurance

September 28, 2007

Catholic Charities Continues Fight for Children's Health Insurance

Few groups are watching more closely to see if President Bush fulfills his promise to veto the children’s health-insurance bill that Congress adopted this week than Catholic Charities USA.

As part of its new Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America, the charity has made the legislation to extend and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, one of its top priorities.

The group’s supporters flooded members of Congress with 2,000 messages this week urging them to vote for the legislation, and sent an equal number to President Bush asking him not to veto it, said Candy Hill, the charity’s senior vice president for social policy.

Rev. Clarence Williams, the group’s director of racial equality, participated in a pro-SCHIP news conference on Wednesday with three other religious leaders and Congressional supporters including Democrats Harry Reid, of Nevada, the majority leader, and Edward Kennedy, of Massachusetts.

“In the past year, we have seen increased requests for food, clothing, and energy assistance because families simply cannot afford their most basic needs,” he said. “Make no mistake; these are the same families who are relying on SCHIP.”

Both the House and Senate agreed this week to reauthorize SCHIP, which provides health insurance to children from low-income families who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, and add $35-billion to the program over five years.

While the Senate adopted it with enough votes to override President Bush’s promised veto, the House did not.

“We do have a veto strategy,” Ms. Hill said. She said the charity’s president, Rev. Larry Snyder, would issue an immediate statement and the group would lobby members of Congress to override the veto.

But, she said, she holds out hope things won’t get to that point. “We’d like to really be successful in changing the mind of the president,” she said.

— Suzanne Perry

Commenting is closed for this article.

Previous: IRS Offers Workshops for Charities
Next: Congressman Proposes "Simple" Measure to Encourage IRA Gifts