Dozens of Texas House Democrats hosted a press conference yesterday advocating for the restoring the Children's Health Insurance Program. Changes in the enrollment requirements for CHIP that were made in the 78th Regular Session in 2003 have directly led to hundreds of thousands of children losing their health coverage. (See more BOR coverage about CHIP here and here). One of the policy changes Democrats want repealed is for the period of renewal for CHIP to go back to once a year instead of every six months.
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, responding to the press conference, said the following in a Dallas Morning News article titled, "Simpler CHIP law is sought":
"I don't think most people in Texas have a lot of sympathy for someone that can't fill out a two-page application every six months," said Mr. Dewhurst, the Senate's presiding officer.
Dewhurst apparently hasn't read the September 2006 Texas Health and Human Services Commission report, "Survey Report of STAR and CHIP Renewals and Non-Renewals." That report says that 76% of those who were denied coverage actually submitted a renewal application. We in Texas don't have a lot of sympathy for a Lieutenant Governor who doesn't know what his own government agencies are doing.
Vince Leibowitz at Capitol Annex has lots of coverage on yesterday's press conference here and here. The video below is an excellent news story that ran in Austin and San Antonio -- showing, once again, why Dewhurst just doesn't get it.