WASHINGTON, D.C. – Supporting a measure that will provide thousands of uninsured children in North Carolina health coverage, U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-N.C.) Friday voted for an expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that will cover 10 million children nationwide. 

Here’s the information sent to media in a press release:

According to a report issued by Families USA, the number of uninsured children in North Carolina rose by 21,200, or 7.7 percent, between three year periods of 2003-2005 and 2005-2007, and “is likely to continue to grow due to the financial crisis.” As of late last year, more than 1 out of every 8 children in North Carolina – or 12.8% of the state’s children – are without health insurance.

“When I was a State Senator, I worked hard to protect and expand North Carolina’s SCHIP program,” said Hagan, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.  “As the mother of 3 children, I know what it’s like when one of your kids wakes up in the middle of the night with an ear-ache, a stomach-ache, or worse. I have seen, first-hand, how important this program is and the unmet need for its services. With the health and vitality of 10 million of our nation’s children on our hands, I cannot in good conscience vote against this bill.”

While noting her support for CHIP, Hagan expressed strong dismay that the expansion is funded entirely with increased taxes on tobacco products. She joined Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) in offering an amendment that would reduce the cigarette tax increase by 24 cents/pack, highlighting the economic impact that a dramatic cigarette tax increase would have on the North Carolina economy. 

“Less than a month into my service here in the U.S. Senate, I’m faced with a situation in which the health of thousands of my state’s children are at odds with a key industry in North Carolina.  But ultimately I have to vote on behalf of the 10 million low-income and disadvantaged children this bill helps. In this economy, when families are being forced to choose between paying their bills and putting food on their table, I cannot make it harder for them to keep their children healthy, safe and cared-for,” said Hagan. “I cast this vote in the affirmative as a mother, as a former budget chairman for the state of North Carolina, who knows how difficult it is for the state to close the gap in funding for this critical program when the federal government drops the ball, and as a U.S. Senator, who sees in this bill a chance for our neediest families, our most disadvantaged kids to get ahead in the face of the daunting odds they will no doubt face in their future.”

Dr. David T. Tyloe, Jr. the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics who practices medicine in Goldsboro spoke to the merits of CHIP. “The beauty of passing (this program) is that it puts an umbrella in place so that a child born into Medicaid retains good health care until the age of majority.”

Pender Sharp, a tobacco farmer from Sims, North Carolina, and the President of the North Carolina Agribusiness Council noted Senator Hagan’s effort to seek out compromise in this key vote.

“I applaud Senator Kay Hagan on her courage to stand on the Senate floor and voice her support for the urgent need to protect the health of children, especially in the current economic crisis, with tens of thousands of parents losing their jobs. As a tobacco farmer and businessman from eastern North Carolina, I appreciate Senator Hagan’s insight in opposing a cigarette tax increase for funding this program. As Senator Hagan said on the Senate floor, it is ‘short-sighted, unreliable and unfair’ to pay for this program on the backs of farmers and smokers. I am encouraged that Senator Hagan is a cosponsor of an amendment that lowers the cigarette tax by 24 cents. Her colleagues should agree with this reasonable proposal. It’s refreshing to see a Senator in the beginning of her service seeking out compromise and fairness in her efforts.”