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Governor Corzine Announces New Jersey will Sue Bush Administration Over Schip at East Orange Health Center
October 1, 2007
Governor Jon S. Corzine speaks at S-Chips press conference at the East Orange Primary Care Center, a Division of the Newark Community Health Centers, Inc. |
East Orange, NJ - Standing inside the East Orange Community Health Center, Governor Jon S. Corzine announced he filed a lawsuit on behalf of the people of the state of New Jersey challenging the letter issued by the Bush Administration limiting eligibility for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The lawsuit accuses the Bush Administration of circumventing the public rule-making process by fundamentally and arbitrarily changing the program via letter, which would have the effect of denying health insurance coverage for over 10,000 New Jersey children.
"SCHIP is an unqualified bipartisan success in New Jersey and in states across the nation, and the Bush Administration's determination to pursue a course of action that will harm our children's health is incomprehensible," Governor Corzine said. "This same Administration previously signed off on our decision to cover the 10,000 kids they are now seeking to kick out of SCHIP, and the lawsuit we filed today demonstrates that we will simply not let that happen. Washington should be a partner to states that are trying to cover more children, not an opponent, and I urge the President to reverse course, withdraw the letter, and sign the bipartisan legislation before him."
Corzine, who was joined by New Jersey’s Attorney General Anne Milgram and New Jersey Department of Health Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez, denounced the August 17 letter sent by the Bush Administration detailing the states that would no longer receive reimbursements for children in families over 250 percent of the federal poverty level unless they meet onerous and unattainable conditions. If the directive were to take effect unchallenged, 10,000 New Jersey children would be impacted.
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| Governor Jon S. Corzine, NCHC President, CEO Peter Velez, and New Jersey Department of Health Services Commission Jennifer Velez at S-Chips press conference. |
Peter Velez, President and Chief Officer of the Newark Community Health Centers, Inc., welcomed Governor Corzine to the East Orange health clinic, which assists thousands of families and children who could be affected by the Bush Administration’s proposed cuts to children’s care coverage.
“Without this integral and vital program, our families who might not have access to health care coverage would resort to an emergency room and not their personal doctors who know them,” said Velez. “And still others would avoid medical care altogether and that is a tragedy.”
New Jersey has one of the most aggressive enrollment programs in the country and, having secured multiple waivers from the federal government, including one as recently as last year from the Bush Administration, currently covers children in families up to 350 percent of poverty. If the directive were to take effect unchallenged, 10,000 New Jersey children would be impacted.
Governor Corzine previously informed the Bush Administration of his willingness to challenge the directive in a letter sent earlier this month; the President has since made clear his intention to veto bipartisan legislation which would reverse the directive and allow states the flexibility to further expand SCHIP.
The filing of New Jersey's lawsuit comes on the same day that seven other states announced they would pursue legal challenges to the Bush Administration's directive. Those states are Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and Washington. |
