NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday October 4, 2007

Tim Bee supports Bush’s veto of health care for uninsured children

Tim Bee, the de facto candidate against U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, aligned himself with President Bush today in saying that he believes that 4 million uninsured American children should go without health care.

Bee joins Sen. John McCain and Rep. John Shadegg as a vocal opponent to the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, despite broad bipartisan support for the program.

SCHIP currently funds health care for 6.6 million whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford health insurance. The bill would expand the program to provide care for 4 million more kids from working class families.

Bee told The Arizona Republic that the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program is “not necessarily an appropriate thing to do at this time.” (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1004napolitano-health1004.html)

“Voters should ask Tim Bee: When is the appropriate time to provide health care for our kids?” said Maria Weeg, executive director of the Arizona Democratic Party. “Tim Bee is just as out of touch as John McCain and John Shadegg. Most Arizonans and Americans want a country where all children can see the doctor and get the medicine they need.”

Bush’s veto comes despite overwhelming support of the American people for the program. According to recent polls, 86 percent of the American people support reauthorizing SCHIP, with seven in 10 saying they support the Democratic plan to expand the program by $35 billion over five years. [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation release, 8/23/07; Washington Post, 10/2/07]

Last month, the U.S. House and Senate struck a strong bipartisan agreement to reauthorize the program, which covers more than 65,000 Arizona children through the KidsCare program. The vote would expand eligibility to insure 82,600 new Arizona children by 2012. There are more than 250,000 uninsured children in Arizona.

Fellow Republicans are critical of the President’s plan, saying that the President’s proposal won’t even cover kids already in the program.

“The president’s $5 billion plan doesn’t work,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It doesn’t accomplish what he says he wants to do. It won’t even cover kids on the program today, much less reach out to cover more kids.” (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/04/MN39SJAUJ.DTL)