Reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)

Reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was passed by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by President Obama.

The bill, HR 2, includes the following:

• Will cover approximately 4 million additional uninsured children
• Ensures that all private sector SCHIP plans comply with the Paul Wellstone & Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 – the new federal parity law
• Is fully paid for, primarily with a 61-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax
• Extends federal support for CHIP through 2013
• Encourages states to enroll children who are already eligible but not yet covered, and gives states new tools to reach uninsured children
• Makes sure that federal funding goes to states that are using the money (to ensure that the greatest number of children get coverage)
• Makes it easier for people who are U.S. citizens to document their citizenship status by allowing access to government databases (but extends the requirement to document citizenship to CHIP, whereas before it had applied only to Medicaid)
• Allows states to cover children in families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level with full federal CHIP funding but does not establish a "cap" on eligibility level
• Requires states to change the way they fund coverage for the parents of kids in SCHIP after 2010
  

Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act

The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act is federal legislation already passed by the U.S. House and awaiting a vote in the U.S. Senate to fund increased research into the causes of postpartum depression and provide for increased services for women in need of help.

The legislation would increase federal efforts to combat postpartum depression by:

• Encouraging Health and Human Services (HHS) to coordinate and continue research to expand the understanding of the causes of, and find treatments for, postpartum conditions.
• Encouraging a National Public Awareness Campaign, to be administered by HHS, to increase awareness and knowledge of postpartum depression and psychosis.
• Requiring the Secretary of HHS to conduct a study on the benefits of screening for postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.
• Creating a grant program to public or nonprofit private entities to deliver or enhance outpatient, inpatient, and home-based health and support services, including case management and comprehensive treatment services for individuals with or at risk for postpartum conditions. Activities may also include providing education about postpartum conditions to new mothers and their families, including symptoms, methods of coping with the illness, and treatment resources, in order to promote earlier diagnosis and treatment.

The bill is already endorsed nationally by the March of Dimes, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, the Children’s Defense Fund, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Organization for Women, Postpartum Support International, and the Suicide Prevention Action Network, among many others.

The state of Nebraska is woefully under-represented in the list of individuals supporting passage of the Act. If you would like to sign on to support the Act or to learn more, please visit www.postpartum.net or www.perinatalpro.com.