III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 302 

To express the sense of the Senate regarding the impact of medicaid 

reconciliation legislation on the health and well-being of children. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 10, 2005 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. REED, Mrs. CLINTON, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BAUCUS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. DODD, and Mr. SALAZAR) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Finance 

RESOLUTION 

To express the sense of the Senate regarding the impact 

of medicaid reconciliation legislation on the health and 

well-being of children. 

Whereas the Medicaid program provides health insurance for 

more than 1⁄4 of children in the United States and pays 

for more than 1⁄3 of the births and health care costs for 

newborns in the United States each year; 

Whereas the Medicaid program provides critical access to 

health care for children with disabilities, covering more 

than 70 percent of poor children with disabilities and 

children with special needs in low-income working families, including 1 in 9 military children with special health 

care needs; 
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•SRES 302 IS

Whereas low-income children who depend on the Medicaid 

program experience a rate of health conditions and health 

risks much greater than those found among children who 

are not low-income; 

Whereas the Medicaid program is the largest source of payment for health care provided to children with special 

health care needs in the Nation and is also a critical 

source of funding for health care provided to children in 

foster care and for health care services provided in 

schools to children eligible for coverage under the Medicaid program; 

Whereas the Medicaid program is the single largest source of 

revenue for the Nation’s safety net hospitals, including 

children’s hospitals and community health centers, and is 

critical to the ability of these providers to adequately 

serve all children; 

Whereas the Medicaid program, in combination with the 

State Children’s Health Insurance Program, has helped 

to dramatically reduce the number of uninsured children, 

cutting the rate by more than 1⁄3 between 1997 and 

2003; 

Whereas without the Medicaid program, the number of children without health insurance—8,300,000 in 2004— 

would be substantially higher; 

Whereas the Medicaid program’s guarantee of affordable coverage and access to necessary health care is essential to 

the ability of the Medicaid program to adequately serve 

children whose families have low-incomes and whose 

health care expenses often exceed the norm; 

Whereas for nearly 40 years, the Medicaid program has ensured particularly comprehensive benefits for infants, 
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•SRES 302 IS

young children, school-age children, and adolescents, in 

recognition of the unique growth and development needs 

of children and the importance of strong and healthy 

young adults to the safety and welfare of the Nation; 

Whereas the Medicaid program’s special benefits, added in 

1967, were a direct response to findings of the Department of Defense regarding pervasive physical, dental, and 

developmental conditions among low-income military recruits, and the implications of these findings for national 

preparedness; 

Whereas the Medicaid program’s benefits for children are 

comprehensive, in order to ensure that all low-income infants, even those born too soon and too small, have the 

chance to survive and thrive into a healthy childhood; 

Whereas the Medicaid program’s benefits for children help 

ensure that young children grow and develop properly, 

arrive at school ready to learn, and have the opportunity 

to achieve their full educational potential; 

Whereas the Medicaid program ensures that children have 

the benefits, health services, and health care support they 

need to be fully immunized, and that children can secure 

eyeglasses, dental care, and hearing aids when necessary, 

and have access to comprehensive, regularly scheduled, 

and as-needed health examinations, as well as preventive 

interventions, to correct physical and mental conditions 

that threaten to delay proper growth and development; 

Whereas the Medicaid program ensures that the sickest and 

highest risk infants, toddlers, and children have access to 

the specialized diagnostic and treatment care that become 

essential when serious illness strikes; 
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•SRES 302 IS

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives, as reported out by the Committee on Energy and Commerce, would eliminate Medicaid Early and Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit rules outright for approximately 

6,000,000 low-income children, whose family incomes are 

only slightly above the Federal poverty level and who are 

therefore without the resources to secure basic health 

care or essential medical care; 

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives permits States to eliminate the 

following benefits for children: comprehensive developmental assessments, assessment and treatment for elevated blood lead levels, eyeglasses, dental care, hearing 

aids, wheelchairs and crutches, respiratory treatment, 

comprehensive mental health services, prescription drugs, 

and speech and physical therapy services; 

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives would allow States to impose 

premiums, deductibles, and copayments on children 

whose families have incomes only slightly above the Federal poverty level and who therefore cannot afford the 

cost of medically necessary care and millions of children, 

especially infants, young children, and school-age children 

with serious disabilities and high health care needs, 

would potentially be affected; 

Whereas although title III of the budget reconciliation bill of 

the House of Representatives purports to exempt poor 

children, it permits States to redefine the meaning of 

poverty virtually without limitation, in order to eliminate 

cost sharing safeguards for poor children currently available under the law; 
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•SRES 302 IS

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives would permit States to require 

that even the poorest children pay copayments for prescription drugs, without providing exemptions to this requirement, not even in the case of children in foster care 

or special needs adoptions; 

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives would permit States to allow 

hospital emergency departments to impose cost sharing 

requirements on the poor and on near-poor infants, toddlers, and young children, without providing exemptions 

to this requirement, not even in the case of children in 

foster care or special needs adoptions; 

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives would permit providers to turn 

children away because their families are unable to pay 

deductibles and copayments; 

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives would potentially eliminate 

medical case management coverage for Medicaid-enrolled 

children in foster care, even though Federal foster care 

programs expressly assume that medical case management services for such children will be furnished through 

the Medicaid program; 

Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives would permit States to entirely 

replace the Medicaid program for children with ‘‘health 

opportunity accounts’’ that eliminate all Medicaid coverage in favor of cash accounts of $1,000 and catastrophic-only, high deductible health insurance coverage 

for children with family incomes only slightly above the 

Federal poverty level; and 
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Whereas title III of the budget reconciliation bill of the 

House of Representatives would only exempt the poorest 

children from participation in health opportunity accounts during the first 5 years of the demonstration 

projects under which the accounts are available and 

would permit States to redefine the meaning of poverty 

to any level, no matter how low: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 

2 conferees for any budget reconciliation bill of the 109th 

3 Congress shall not report a reconciliation bill that would— 

4 (1) allow States to— 

5 (A) reduce coverage for medically nec6 essary health care for poor or low-income chil7 dren; or 

8 (B) impose premiums, deductibles, copay9 ments, or coinsurance on poor or low-income 

10 children; 

11 (2) reduce coverage of, or payment for, medical 

12 case management services under title XIX of the So13 cial Security Act for children in foster care, includ14 ing targeted case management services; or 

15 (3) allow the Secretary to undertake any Health 

16 Opportunity Account demonstrations involving poor 

17 or low-income children. 

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