Advocates Call for Congressman Taylor to Stand with Mississippi Children

A Press Release from the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program

For more information, contact Roy Mitchell 601.353.0845

Gulfport, MS – Congressman Gene Taylor (4th District) can help over 100,000 uninsured children in Mississippi obtain health coverage by voting to override President Bush's veto of the CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2007. Advocates will join with the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program at the Turkey Creek Head Start Community Center— 14175 Rippy Road in Gulfport, MS on Wednesday, Oct 17 at 1:00 p.m.—to encourage Congressman Taylor to align himself on the side of Mississippi families by voting to expand SCHIP.

"We want to let Representative Gene Taylor (4th District) know that our children's health is no longer up for debate," declared Roy Mitchell, Program Director for the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program. "The time is now to provide coverage for the over 100,000 uninsured children in our state."

The U.S. House of Representatives will attempt to override the President's veto on Thursday, October 18. While the legislation passed in September with a bipartisan majority, its passage was 24 votes short of the two/thirds necessary to override the veto. Every vote counts, so it is crucial that we continue to demand Taylor's support! Congressman Bennie Thompson was the only member of Mississippi's Congressional delegation to vote for the legislation, which has vast support in both parties.

In defending his vote against children's healthcare, Taylor claimed that he was looking out for "the least of us." The truth is, the insurance provided for in the bill – financed by a federal cigarette tax increase—would disproportionately benefit lower income households since it is targeted at children with incomes below 200% FPL.

The cigarette tax increase would not only fund children's health insurance but it would also prevent thousands of Mississippi children from becoming smokers—saving the state millions in future healthcare costs.

"Low-income families with children who obtain coverage under SCHIP would gain much more than they lose, even if one or more family members smoke," said Mitchell.

While Congress debates the legislation, the healthcare situation in America and Mississippi continues to get worse. There are over 9 million uninsured children in the country and over 100,000 of them reside in Mississippi. Counter to many of the myths circulated about the uninsured, in most cases the faces of the uninsured are the faces of hardworking individuals and their children. A report issued by Families USA found that four out of five of the uninsured (79.3%) were in working families.

The CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2007 would expand coverage to another 3.8 million children. Our congressional leadership should not choose flawed ideology over our children's health and future.

Please do your part to help the children of Mississippi!