Emergency funds Found to Save CHIP (HAWK-I) in Iowa

Good Job Dave!

From Rapid Response Iowa--Ironic that it takes an "emergency" to fund basic health insurance for kids while it is "necessary" to fund a war.

Rep. Loebsack, Local State Officials, HACAP Officials and Local Families Announce Federal Funding Will Save Children's Health Insurance in FY 2007

Emergency Federal Funding Will Fix HAWK-I Shortfall, Thousands of Children Will Keep Health Insurance

Cedar Rapids, IA - Today Congressman Dave Loebsack (IA-02) was joined by local elected officials, Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) officials and local families to announce Iowa will receive emergency federal funding to eliminate the FY 2007 funding shortfall for the state children's health insurance program. As a result of this emergency funding, The Health and Well Kids in Iowa (HAWK-I) program which provides health insurance to over 30,000 low-income children, will not have to eliminate or reduce health care coverage to the thousands of children they serve.

"I am pleased to announce today that no child currently covered by the HAWK-I Program will lose their health insurance for the remainder of the year because we were able to secure this emergency federal funding," said Congressman Loebsack. "We are all here today because we agree there is a moral obligation to protect and nurture our children and provide them with every opportunity to succeed. The foundation of this promise is ensuring every child receive proper healthcare."

The HAWK-I Program is a low-cost or no-cost health insurance program for low-income children. Benefits include doctor's visits, eyeglasses, vaccinations, prescription drugs and other critical services. Because of a funding shortfall that was left unresolved by the previous Congress, almost 16,000 low-income children in Iowa were in danger of loosing their coverage for the reminder of 2007.

In addition to securing the emergency funding necessary for the HAWK-I program to continue operating at current levels for the rest of 2007, Congress is working on greatly increasing funding for all state children's health insurance programs starting in 2008. If this increase is included in the final appropriations bill and signed into law, Iowa will receive approximately $373.3 million in new federal funds for the HAWK-I program over the next five years. This significant increase will allow Iowa to expand health coverage to include many of our state's still uninsured children.