(Photo caption: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD); House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), March of Dimes volunteers Kathy and Adam Mingledorff and Dr. Jennifer Howse, President of the March of Dimes celebrated the passage of legislation that expands health care coverage for children and pregnant women at a press conference Wednesday.)

I am thrilled to report that March of Dimes volunteers have achieved an important victory for children and pregnant women.  Legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives today ensures continued coverage for 6 million children currently enrolled in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and provides tools and resources needed by states to cover an additional 4 million eligible children through 2013.  The bill also includes a provision proposed by the March of Dimes – a state option to cover income-eligible pregnant women without a federal waiver.  More moms will now have access to comprehensive maternity services to improve their chances of a health pregnancy. 

Special thanks are due to our outstanding staff in the Office of Government Affairs, as well as to volunteers and staff across the nation who have worked tirelessly on this issue.  Our most prominent spokesperson was Kathy Mingledorff, a March of Dimes volunteer from Virginia who testified on behalf of the legislation in 2007 and appeared today at a press conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other key Members of Congress. Kathy relied on Medicaid and then on SCHIP for health insurance coverage when her son Alex was born 15 weeks too soon.  Complications from his premature birth resulted in 7 hospitalizations for Alex and medical bills of more than $2 million by his 7th birthday.  Today Alex is insured through his parents private coverage, and Medicaid continues to pay for essential health services not covered by the employer based health plan.  In Kathy’s words “There is no way we would have been able to manage without Medicaid and SCHIP.”

At the press conference, Speaker Pelosi praised the March of Dimes for its support of the bill.  In the informal session following, I assured her that we would continue efforts to secure passage in the US Senate and that we look forward to working with her office in the future. President-elect Obama called the Speaker to offer his congratulations and pledged to sign CHIP into law as soon as the bill reaches his desk.

I hope that each of you takes pride in this accomplishment – a real win for moms, babies and children.

- Dr. Jennifer Howse