Medical residents at the UW Children's Hospital rallied Tuesday in support of a federal insurance program for kids. Reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Plan (commonly referred to as SCHIP) has been approved by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, but there were not enough House votes to override an expected veto by the president (President Bush vetoed the measure this morning ). S-CHIP funds BadgerCare here in Wisconsin, which helps provide insurance for some 29,000 children.
Dr. Dipesh Navsaria is a pediatrics resident at UW Children's Hospital, who says it's essential that funding for program continue. "This is really a key opportunity to provide health coverage to as much as 75% of the nation's uninsured children who are eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid, but who are not enrolled," said Navsaria. The measure which passed Congress, and which Bush vetoed, not only reauthorized SCHIP but expanded it to provide coverage to some 4 million more children. The price tag on that expansion was $35 billion dollars over five years, Bush had proposed an increase of just $5 billion.
Navsaria, who also volunteers as a physician at a Madison homeless shelter, was among a group of medical residents at UW Children's Hospital who rallied in support of SCHIP on Tuesday.
