releases: https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=E032E349-4A66-453E-987B-4D956455CC21
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=E032E349-4A66-453E-987B-4D956455CC21 | Portman Discusses Childrens Health Insurance Program, Need for Long-Term Funding Solution | 2017-12-22 | 2017 | 2017-12 | Republican | House | OH | Rob Portman | P000449 | www.portman.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C.In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Portman Rob Portman (R-OH) discussed the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the need for a long-term funding solution. CHIP has enjoyed wide bipartisan support in the past. The Senate Finance Committee, which Portman serves on, recently passed legislation that would fund CHIP for five years by a unanimous vote. Ohio has the 10th largest CHIP program, and 219,000 Ohio childrenand nine million children nationwideget health coverage through CHIP. Portman addressed the need for bipartisan cooperation to enact a long-term funding solution to help some the most vulnerable members of society, children in need. Transcript of his remarks can be found below and a video can be found here. I also want to talk aboutsomething tonight that was notaccomplished.And it was not accomplished inthis vote we just had, which wasa continuing resolution thatkeeps the government funded fora little while longer intoJanuary.Some of us have pushed hard toinclude various things in thislegislation.I understand that some of theseitems are controversial, and itwas hard to get it done becauseyou needed 60 votes tonight.You needed a bipartisanconsensus, really, on how tomove forward not to shut downthe government.And I am not a fan of governmentshutdowns,they wont work.They are inefficient.They cost taxpayers more at theend of the day.They cause a lot of pain in theprocess. But I will tell you we had theopportunity to pass certainthings tonight that were notcontroversial, and I dont understand why we didnt do it.Some issues, again, Iunderstand on the spending frontwere more controversial.I understand some issues weremore controversial in terms ofhow you deal with theimmigration issue.The DACA issue is one I supportresolving.I think we should codify it andresolve that.People wanted to add differentthings there.Let me tell you about one whereI dont think there was anydisagreement.And if we could have passed it, it would have provideda lot of certainty andpredictability to families inOhio and around the country.Its one that passed mycommittee, the Finance Committeeby a strong vote, not abipartisan vote but a unanimousvote.And thats the Childrens HealthInsurance Program, the CHIPprogram.We passed it with a unanimousvote out of committee. People say well, but we need tofind pay-fors for it.It is about $8 billion to dowhat we did, which is afive-year extension of theprogram.Providing, again, certainty andpredictability to familiestonight who are wondering whats going to happen.Whats going to happen with thisprogram?Are my kids going to have thekind of quality health care thatthey can access through theChildrens Health Insurance Program, theCHIP program.But Ill tell you, there aresome pay-fors out there that are bipartisan.A big one that could covernearly half of that cost is onewhere you simply ensure that theMedicaid program has moreintegrity so that if athird-party payer is paying,then the Medicaid programdoesnt pay.Its always been a bipartisaninitiative.Its a pay-for that, again, wehave looked at through thisprogram.It would have been one that wecould have used.So I dont get this notion thatwe couldnt pass it because wecouldnt find the pay-fors.The pay-fors were there. I dont get that this wascontroversial because its not.I believe, on both sides of theaisle, we wanted to resolve theChildrens Health InsuranceProgram.Again, with all the otherissues, I understandIt's tough when you have got toget the 60 votes and have to getthis passed in order to keep thegovernment operating, which isnot a situation we should be in,but we're in.But I must tell you, I am verydisappointed that we were notable to deal with this one issuetonight that has not beencontroversial, that came out ofthe committee with a unanimousvote,not bipartisan, but unanimous. CHIP now helps 219,000 Ohiochildren get the health coveragethey needand nine million childrennationwide.Ohio has the 10th largestprogram.CHIP has been a leading cause indriving the uninsured rate downfor Ohio kids.In the case of my home state, wehave seen our CHIP funding bequestioned because the programwas authorized until the end ofSeptember.Now its no longer authorized,so were not sure exactly howmuch money we have left.We think we have enough to getinto February in Ohio.Some states, I tell you, areworried about even getting intoJanuary. So tonight there was ashort-term extension that, as Iunderstand it, will take theprogram into February, butagain, this doesnt provide thatlong-term certainty thatfamilies are looking for. And I must tell you Im disappointed from what I hearabout the reasons because Iasked and asked on both sides ofthe aisle, and the one reason I got,again, from leadership on bothsides of the aisle is that,gosh, we cant do it unless wedo other things with it.You know, it is called CHIP,Childrens Health InsuranceProgram.But it shouldnt be a politicalchip.It should be taken out ofpolitics.It should be something that wedeal with separately.So I will just tell you thatusing it as leverage for otherprograms is not the way I'mgoing to look at it.Its not the way we should lookat it.We should have passed ittonight.We should have passed it to helpprotect some of the mostvulnerable members of oursociety. Funding it should be a toppriority.Regardless of your partisanposition, regardless of thepolitical climate, it should beout of the political fray.And I urge my colleagues when wecome back after the first of theyear, lets make that apriority.Lets bring it to the floor.Lets have a vote.Lets keep it bipartisan.Maybe it could even beunanimous.And lets give those families inOhio, the 219,000 kids whodepend on it, and the millions offamilies around this country thepeace of mind to know that,yeah, were extending thisprogram. Lets do that five-yearextension, that five-yearauthorization.We have already passed incommittee.Lets take it out of thispolitical process and put itwhere it belongs, which is anissue that every single memberof this body should want toaddress for the kids theyrepresent. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |