Call Speaker Pelosi TODAY! Urge her to Ensure ICHIA is included in final SCHIP bill

Dear Friends --

Call Speaker Pelosi TODAY! Urge her to ensure that the Immigrant Children's Health
Improvement Act (ICHIA) is included as part of the final State Children's Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill:

SF Office: (415) 556-4862
Washington, D.C. Office: (202) 225-4965

ICHIA would allow states to provide medical coverage to lawfully residing immigrant
children and pregnant women under Medicaid or SCHIP, with no waiting period. Only
the House version of the SCHIP bill, H.R. 3126 the Children's Health and Medicare
Protection (CHAMP) Act contains ICHIA provisions. The Senate version of SCHIP does
not. It is now up to House and Senate leaders, including Speaker Pelosi to agree on
a compromise bill. The deadline for a final bill is September 30th, less than two
weeks away!

Urge Speaker Pelosi to fight for the inclusion of immigrant children! For more
information, please see the action alert below and attached.

Thank you for your support!

Best,

Cary Sanders
Northern California Policy Analyst
California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)
405 14th Street, Suite 1400
Oakland, CA 94612

Tel. (510) 663-8282 ext. 303
Email: csanders [at] caimmigrant.org

SAVE THE DATE -- OCTOBER 30, 2007!!!
Join us for a Statewide Immigrant Rights Conference
9am-5pm, Southern California
Call (916) 448-6762 for more details!

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September
19,
2007

URGE SPEAKER PELOSI TO ENSURE ICHIA IS IN SCHIP COMPROMISE BILL
Help Restore Equity for Immigrant Children

The Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) of 2007 (S. 764, H.R. 1308)
is a federal bill that has been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House of
Representatives with bipartisan support. ICHIA is being considered as part of this
year's priorities within the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
reauthorization. ICHIA would allow states to provide medical coverage to lawfully
residing immigrant children and pregnant women under Medicaid or SCHIP, with no
waiting period.

Only the House version of the SCHIP bill, H.R. 3126 the Children's Health and
Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act contains ICHIA provisions. The Senate version of
SCHIP does not
. It is now up to House and Senate leaders, including Speaker Pelosi to agree on a
compromise bill. The deadline for a final bill is September 30th, less than two
weeks away!





ACTION ALERT:

Call Speaker Pelosi TODAY and urge her to ensure that the final compromise bill
contains ICHIA

-
SF Office: (415) 556-4862
-Washington, D.C. Office: (202) 225-4965

Talking Points for Calling Speaker Pelosi:
* Thank you for your support for California's children.
* We are calling to urge you to tell Congress and the Democratic leadership
that coverage of lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women (also known
as ICHIA, the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act) must be included in the
final compromise bill as part of this year's reauthorization of the State Children's
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
* California can only benefit from ICHIA. ICHIA will bring in new federal
revenue in recognition of the investment California has already made in providing
health coverage to low-income immigrant children and pregnant women. The new
revenue will allow the state to move ahead on health care reform for all
Californians.
* Please help us restore equity for our nation's children.


What is ICHIA?
In 1996, Congress added a new barrier to health care for recently arrived immigrants
by requiring them to wait five years before they could enroll in the federal
Medicaid or the SCHIP programs. ICHIA would remove this barrier so that states that
choose to cover these individuals would receive federal funding. ICHIA would
restore equity and allow access to public health coverage to low-income lawfully
residing immigrants - families who have gone through the immigration process, are
working and paying taxes but are prevented from obtaining affordable health care
coverage for their children.

How Would ICHIA benefit California?
ICHIA would bring in new federal revenue without making changes to the Medi-Cal and
Healthy Families program. California long-ago recognized that arbitrary barriers
such as the five year waiting period for lawfully residing immigrants was not
cost-effective and instead invested state funds to provide coverage to these
individuals in the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs. This helped ensure
lawfully residing children and pregnant women in California had access to
preventative and primary care thereby reducing the need for emergency room care,
improving health outcomes and increasing the ability of California's children to
learn and develop critical skills for their future. ICHIA would allow other states
to do what California and many other states are already doing but receive federal
funding to do so.

With the influx of new federal revenue from the passage of ICHIA, California could
move further ahead in health care reform and become a national leader.

Who Supports this?
ICHIA is supported by the National Governors Association, the National Conference of
State Legislatures, and hundreds of national and state organizations, including the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
and the National Council of La Raza. The bill is currently sponsored by California
Representatives: Boxer, Eschoo, Capps, Matsui, Berman, Lantos, Solis and Waxman.
For a list of California groups sponsoring this legislation go to:
http://www.caimmigrant.org .

For more information about ICHIA, go to http://www.caimmigrant.org
or contact Cary Sanders or Sonal Ambegaokar.