Director's Message

Sept. 28, 2007

To: All DHS employees

From: Bruce Goldberg, M.D., director

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"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."
~Anonymous (my thanks to Maria Valle, DHS, who supplied this quote)

This week I have SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, on my mind. I'm writing to update you as to where things are today.

You've no doubt seen the recent news coverage about the Congressional debate over funding SCHIP. What sometimes gets lost among all the political sound bites is that the health and well-being of literally millions of children are at stake.

And 40,000 of those children live in Oregon.

While politicians maneuver, without SCHIP children in all states could face losing access to health care. Haven't we had enough of this? Why, in a country as wealthy as ours, do we tolerate having any child go without basic medical care?

Earlier this week the House passed legislation to expand SCHIP and last night the Senate did the same by a vote of 67 to 29. It's great to see the bipartisan support in Congress to make SCHIP available to more children, but I am very concerned over the President's veto threat and the resultant move to scale back the program's funding. SCHIP is a worthy program, and one on which many families rely. It provides low-income families with a terribly important safety net, as many of us know who work with clients on a daily basis.

SCHIP also has been a very successful partnership between states and the federal government. For every $1 Oregon pays from its General Fund to insure children, the federal government provides approximately $2.33, creating a 30-70 cost-sharing split. That money has brought at least some small measure of security to families who otherwise would face letting their children's illnesses and injuries go untreated because the cost of care simply is beyond their reach.

Because of the importance of this program to the families it serves, we are committed to doing everything in our power to ensure continued coverage for SCHIP clients if the President vetoes the reauthorization of the program. As further details emerge from Washington, I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, it's important that those individuals based in Washington, D.C., who are engaging in this funding debate remember that real lives hang on their decisions. These aren't abstract numbers, these are real people -- children -- who will pay the price for delay or disagreement.

SCHIP is a great program. Let's not only recognize that, let's do all that we can to support and strengthen it.

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