Bill Would Greatly Expand on Latino Children’s Access to Health Care

Washington, DC – Today, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., praised the members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted to pass the “Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act” (CHAMP Act, H.R. 3162). The bill contains numerous provisions that would expand Latino children’s access to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), including a long overdue restoration of health coverage access to legal immigrant children and pregnant women.

“We are grateful that the bill maximizes coverage for children, including legal immigrants. Though an anti-immigrant amendment attempted to mischaracterize the immigrant issue in the debate, we are glad to see that fairness prevailed,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO. “We have every expectation that final legislation, when reconciled with the Senate bill, will include these important provisions.”

The legal immigrant provisions, which have long had bipartisan support, survived an attack on immigrants which is part of a recent backlash against Latino priorities, including those affecting legal immigrants and U.S. citizens.

“We thank the many members of Congress, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, particularly Representatives Hilda Solis (D-CA) and Xavier Becerra (D-CA), for recognizing the unfairness of leaving legal immigrant children and pregnant women behind,” praised Murguía. “With the passage of the CHAMP Act, they demonstrated their commitment to ensure equal health access opportunities for all of America’s children.”

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