The arguments against increasing access to Texas’ Children’s Health Insurance Program have included claims that it would entice parents away from private insurance providers and get away from the mission of aiding the neediest families.

Even though legislation to expand the program won several rounds of approval in both the Senate and the House during this year’s session, the bills ultimately died for lack of time.

Gov. Rick Perry didn’t help by sending signals that he didn’t want to see a CHIP expansion bill on his desk.

The derailment happened even though Republican and Democratic lawmakers worked diligently to produce a plan backed by a broad coalition of groups. They ranged from the Arlington and Fort Worth Chambers of Commerce to Big Brothers Big Sisters, from the Texas Catholic Conference to the Texas Medical Association.

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House members adjourned just after midnight without approving a measure to keep agencies as big as the Department of Insurance and Department of Transportation operating. Also lost in the parliamentary maneuvering was a measure to extend children’s health insurance for the working poor.

The House meets at 10 a.m., and under the state Constitution, both chambers have to adjourn by midnight Monday night.

Unless two-thirds of its members vote to suspend rules and allow the bill, known as a “safety net” measure, to come up for a vote, those departments would be set for the chopping block. That would almost certainly lead Gov. Rick Perry to call lawmakers back to Austin to revive the agencies.

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The legislation, which passed last week, is waiting final approval by the governor.

The bill clears the way for more parents to enroll their children with less paperwork and shorter wait periods or in some cases no wait at all to re-enroll if they are late making a payment.

“Florida was once a national model and now it’s been viewed as one of the most complicated programs in the country,” said Linda Merrell of Ormond Beach, co-coordinator of the Florida Child Healthcare Coalition, made up organizations that pushed for changes.

Now, Merrell and others say, barriers will be removed and the state will be able to meet requirements such as increasing enrollment to get its fair share of federal funding.

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The 54-year-old longtime smoker said new federal taxes added to tobacco products to fund more health insurance for low-income children are too much for her to handle.

“It’s a good cause and all, but it’s not a good time with the economy,” said Banks, of Fort Worth. “I guess they are trying to hint that we should quit.

“But they are forcing us to quit,” she said. “No one can afford that increase.”

As of April 1, federal tobacco taxes are increasing — some by more than 2,000 percent — to fund the $32.8 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The measure, the first major bill signed into law by President Barack Obama in February, will give health insurance to more uninsured children.

The increase means that taxes on little cigars, for example, will rise more than 2,400 percent, from 4 cents to $1.01 per pack. On cigarettes, it increases 159 percent, from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack. And on loose tobacco, it jumps 2,153 percent, from $1.10 to $24.78 per pound.

Health officials hail the increase, and at least one manufacturer has already boosted the cost of cigarettes by 71 cents per pack. Smokers say they’ll quit, and some tobacco shops say they don’t know if they can afford to stay open.

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Basingstoke, Hampshire (PRWEB) February 17, 2009 — Two thirds of child car seats are not fitted correctly* and over 83% of drivers are not aware of UK car seat legislation reveals research by the AA** and Britax.

The research from 16,500 respondents - which included grandparents*** for the first time - found that only a quarter of all people admitted experiencing difficulty in fitting a child car seat despite evidence that two thirds of seats are not fitted correctly.

Even more surprisingly, 66% of respondents stated that they didn’t know that the law requires children up to the age of 12 to use a car seat and 80% of them were not aware that UK law requires children under the height of 135cms to use a child seat.

The research also revealed that grandparents had even less awareness with 74% stating that they didn’t know the age range over which the law requires children to use a car seat and 86% didn’t know the minimum height requirements.

UK law introduced in 2006, actually requires all children travelling in cars to use the correct child restraint until they are either 135cms in height or the age of 12 (which ever they reach first). This research highlights that the law may not always be followed and with over 25,000 child passengers involved in car collisions each year, the AA and Britax urge drivers to review their car seat safety this half term.

And there is a solution to the problem of seats not fitted correctly - ISOFIX a standard system developed for fitting child seats. The idea is simple - car manufacturers provide small and inconspicuous attachment points in standard locations in new cars which ISOFIX car seats lock directly onto reducing the risk of child seats being fitted incorrectly.

The research by breakdown cover specialists The AA estimates at least 6 million cars (around 25% of all cars) are fitted with standardised ISOFIX fittings. Despite this the research revealed that 74% of drivers were not aware of ISOFIX.

“It’s shocking that despite the great safety advances in child seat design over the past 12 years that such significant numbers of child car seats are still fitted incorrectly,” said Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association. “Our children and grandchildren are our most precious cargo so we must do all we can to keep them safe and keep within the law. In the AA Populus poll, safety, the child’s comfort and clear instructions ranked above price or fabric of seats. We recommend that parents choose an ISOFIX seat if it is compatible with their car.”

Ian Watson Britax European managing director added: “Britax launched ISOFIX technology in co-operation with VW in 1997 and the safety system is designed to minimise installation errors and reduce the risk of misuse through standardised fitting points between child seats and a vehicle. These fittings mean that if you’re moving your child’s car seat between cars, for example, to a grandparent’s car, fitting is easier and there is less chance of a car seat being fitted incorrectly.”

As a result of this research the AA has developed with Britax a range of AA approved car seats for children from birth to approximately 12 years old, all of which utilise ISOFIX and are available from Mothercare. The AA approved Britax ISOFIX seats are almost impossible to fit incorrectly and can be used in non-ISOFIX cars by utilising the adult seat-belts.

Notes to Editors:

• * Statistic based on The Walsall Trading Standard and Road Safety unit checked 216 child seats over 4 days and found that 32.5% were fitted correctly (Aug/Sept 2008)
• **Research conducted by the AA Populus poll in Sept 2008 of 7,971 drivers
• *** Saga Populus Panel Survey conducted in December 2008 of 8,445 grandparents
Despite the massive benefits of the system the AA Populus poll found that:
• 74% drivers don’t know what ISOFIX is
• 26% said they knew what ISOFIX was.
• Men (31%) and those who cared for children (44%) were more likely to say they knew.
• Of those who said that they didn’t know what ISOFIX was:
• 11% said it was a device to reduce toxic exhaust emissions.
• 3% said it was a universal roof rack attachment.
• 2% said it was a system to stop windscreen washers freezing up.
• 2% said it was tie-down hooks in the boot to stop luggage sliding around.
• 36% of panellists said that they did not have the anchorage points required to attach an ISOFIX seat
• 29% said they did with 8% saying that they did, and actually used an ISOFIX restraint. 35% didn’t know.

AA Approved Britax Range of Child Car Seats

The new AA approved range of Britax Car Seats is available at Mothercare stores, online at mothercare.com or by phone on 08453 304030. Those buying an AA approved Britax Car Seat can get up to 50% off AA Personal Membership*.

ISOFIX Explained

In 1997, Britax developed ISOFIX, in association with car manufacturer VW and the safety system has become an international installation interface for standardised anchorage points between a child seat and a vehicle. It minimises instillation errors and optimises protection through a rigid connection to the car chassis.

ISOFIX also reduced forward and sideward movement of the seat and limits rotation through a foot prop or top tether.

The ISOFIX system makes installation and removal quick and easy providing peace of mind when fitting a child seat and reduces the risk of misuse.

The Pivot Link

Britax has further advanced the ISOFIX technology by developing a unique patented ISOFIX Pivot Link system of ISOFIX connectors that attach to the seat via an L-shaped link.

The solution allows the seat to move in two stages in case of frontal accident. In the first stage the seat rotates in the opposite direction to a standard ISOFIX seat, the movement to the rear is activated by the Pivot Link system and so the minimising the child’s forward movement. In the second stage the seat rotates far more gently.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/the-aa/car-safety/prweb2081764.htm

That’s a pretty good characterization of the $115 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, commonly known as SCHIP, that President Obama signed earlier this month.

The problem the SCHIP program, originally enacted in 1997, purported to address was the poor quality of health care for children in low-income families. Its method is to enroll an increasing number of children in the SCHIP program, which is similar to Medicaid, the program for low-income families, with a couple of twists.

The SCHIP program is aimed at families with too much income to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private health insurance. Unfortunately it embodies perverse incentives that make whatever good it does extraordinarily expensive, and it is likely not the most effective means of improving the health of poor children.

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It’s called the S-CHIP program, designed to provide health insurance to low-income families. Even better news: The bill continues coverage for seven million children already receiving care under the legislation and adds coverage for an additional four million children in need. News 3’s Anita Roman digs deeper into how this new law will help our local community.

President Obama calls this a key step toward his promise of universal health care coverage, while pediatricians here in Nevada call it an investment in our future. The biggest challenge Dr. Blaze Gusic experiences when treating his patients is health care coverage.

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The Texas Finish Line Campaign, a coalition of three advocacy groups, urged the Legislature to expand the program by letting some families above current income caps “buy in.”

The families would pay “significant” monthly premiums to cover their young, said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities. She said the premiums, based on a sliding scale pegged to income, would defray about half of the state’s costs.

Also, Texas will receive new federal CHIP money, almost enough to cover the rest of the proposed expansion’s cost, she said. The state will be reimbursed for coverage it already extends to legal immigrant children.

The CHIP reauthorization bill signed by President Barack Obama on Wednesday allows states to raise eligibility ceilings. In Texas, a family of four cannot earn more than $44,000.

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The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is among the new president’s top priorities. That’s welcome news, advocates say, as more people lose jobs and health insurance in a worsening economy.

Created using Pennsylvania’s state-run CHIP program as a model, SCHIP provides states with federal money to cover uninsured children up to age 18 in families with income above Medicaid eligibility levels but who cannot afford health insurance.

Bipartisan bills to increase SCHIP funding were twice passed by Congress and twice vetoed by President George W. Bush, though 80 percent of Americans supported the legislation, according to various polls. Funding for the SCHIP program ends on March 31.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Jan. 14 that would take the program from $167 million a year to $312.5 million in each of four years, an 87 percent increase.

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