Senate Bill sb1506e1

    CS for SM 1506                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1                         Senate Memorial

  2         A memorial to the Congress of the United

  3         States, urging Congress to timely reauthorize

  4         the State Children's Health Insurance Program

  5         to assure federal funding for the Florida

  6         KidCare Program.

  7  

  8         WHEREAS, the Senate of the State of Florida recognizes

  9  the health of the state's children to be of paramount

10  importance to families in this state, and

11         WHEREAS, the Senate of the State of Florida regards

12  poor child health as a threat to the educational achievement

13  and the social and psychological well-being of the children of

14  this state, and

15         WHEREAS, the Senate of the State of Florida considers

16  protecting the health of its children to be essential to the

17  well-being of the youngest citizens and the quality of life in

18  this state, and

19         WHEREAS, the Senate considers the Florida KidCare

20  Program, which was created in 1998 and currently has 1,388,520

21  children enrolled, to be an integral part of the arrangements

22  for health benefits for the children of the State of Florida,

23  and

24         WHEREAS, the Senate recognizes the value of the Florida

25  KidCare Program in preserving child wellness, preventing and

26  treating childhood disease, improving health outcomes, and

27  reducing overall health costs, and

28         WHEREAS, the Senate of the State of Florida considers

29  the federal funding available for the Florida KidCare Program

30  to be indispensable to providing health benefits for children

31  of modest means, NOW, THEREFORE,


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    CS for SM 1506                           First Engrossed (ntc)



 1  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

 2  

 3         That the Florida Senate urges the United States

 4  Congress to timely reauthorize the State Children's Health

 5  Insurance Program (SCHIP) to ensure federal funding for the

 6  Florida KidCare Program.

 7         That the Florida Senate urges the Governor to use his

 8  best efforts to work with the Florida delegation to the United

 9  States Congress to ensure that SCHIP is reauthorized in a

10  timely manner.

11         That the Florida Senate recognizes that all components

12  of state government should work together with educators,

13  health care providers, social workers, and parents to ensure

14  that all available public and private assistance for providing

15  health benefits to uninsured children in this state is used to

16  the maximum extent possible.

17         That the Florida Senate urges the Governor to use his

18  best efforts to provide meaningful assistance to help identify

19  and enroll children who qualify for the Florida KidCare

20  Program.

21         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

22  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the

23  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the

24  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of

25  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.