Edwards Statement On President Bush's Recent SCHIP Order

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards issued the following statement in response to the Bush Administration's new order directing states to cut back on enrolling kids in the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP).

"In a stunning late-evening order, the Bush Administration made it abundantly clear that the health and welfare of uninsured children is of little concern to President Bush. The Bush order continues an ideological crusade against the SCHIP that will only benefit private insurance companies, while further punishing countless numbers of uninsured families in America. Sadly, this is a new low -- even for this president.

"The practical effect of this order is clear: States like New Hampshire, Missouri and Minnesota will have to take away insurance from tens of thousands of children from moderate-income families. Roughly 20 states will be forced to impose a 12-month waiting period before any children without health insurance can enroll. That's a death sentence for uninsured kids with leukemia and other diseases -- chemotherapy isn't available in the emergency room. Apparently 18,000 Americans already dying each year because they don't have health insurance just isn't enough for the Bush Administration.

"When Congress returns from recess, Democrats and responsible Republicans must come together to override this disastrous order and expand the children's health insurance program to serve millions more children. More importantly, it is clearer now than ever that the time has come for bold and transformational health care reform. As president, I will never allow the private insurance industry or its lobbyists to get in the way of providing health care to children or having true universal health care reform."