Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh urged Gov. Rick Perry to include the Children’s Health Insurance Program bill on Thursday’s special legislative session agenda.

Shapleigh filed a bill last week that proposes the expansion of CHIP eligibility. A similar bill died in the final days of the last legislative session. The senator sent a letter to Perry encouraging the governor to include the legislation on the special session call.

He said Texas ranks first in the nation in the number of uninsured children. Of the 9 million children who are uninsured in the U.S., 1.5 million live in Texas, he said.

“Texas is ground zero in America’s health care crisis,” Shapleigh said. “Not a single Texas city reaches the national average of citizens covered with insurance.”

CHIP allows families near the federal poverty level to get health insurance and health care benefits for their children, including regular check-ups and dental care. Children are only eligible for the program if their families earn up to 200 percent of the poverty level.

The bill will expand eligibility to children whose families earn up to 300 percent, and the federal government will match $3 for every $1 that Texas dedicates to CHIP.

“The co-pay is based on the cost per child and 2.5 percent of the family income,” said state Rep. Garnet Coleman.

CHIP grants passed with wide margins in both the Senate and House, and the cost of expanding CHIP was included in the state’s budget for the next two years.

Shapleigh said it is now time to expand eligibility for the program.

“Especially since I do think this will be an issue in the governor’s re-election campaign,” Shapleigh said. “[Kay Bailey] Hutchison has already passed it on the federal level.”

A number of issues will be considered during the special session, including legislation maintaining the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Insurance, Texas Racing Commission, Office of Public Insurance Counsel and Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation.

“The governor has an obligation to deal with this unfinished business,” Coleman said. “It is just as equally important as building highways in Texas. I want highways too, but why can’t children be on the same level and get the same amount of attention?”

Increasing coverage for more people will expand access to health care, increase the number of health care professionals and have a positive effect on health in communities.

“We certainly support the governor passing this bill,” said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director for the Center for Public Policy Priorities. “With 1.5 million [children] uninsured in Texas, this bill is a meaningful step toward children’s health care.”

The special session will begin Wendesday, and Perry has said it may only last three days.

“When Barack Obama is trying to provide health care nationally, I think the governor has a responsibility to do something,” Shapleigh said. “Especially with Texas’ health care statistics.”