APA PRESS RELEASE

February 5, 2009
Contact: Kim Mills
(202) 336-6048

APA HAILS SCHIP ENACTMENT AS SAFETY NET FOR LOW-INCOME CHILDREN

WASHINGTON—The American Psychological Association today welcomed the signing of a law expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by issuing the following statement:

"In a victory for the nation's children, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, legislation that had been vetoed twice by President Bush despite broad congressional support. This law expands the health program to four million more children and includes language that ensures parity for mental health and substance use disorder benefits. APA is committed to ensuring that all children have access to affordable health care coverage, and has supported expansions to the SCHIP program for many years, advocating for including provisions to address the health and well-being of underserved populations, including immigrant children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS, and racial and ethnic minorities. We are particularly gratified to see the removal of the five-year eligibility bar for lawfully residing children and pregnant women, allowing them access to crucial prenatal and other preventive health care. Together with Medicaid, this law provides the safety net to ensure that low-income children without private coverage are not left uninsured."

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 148,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students  Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.