2008 Woodie Awards
Congresswoman Schwartz speaks to St. Joe's students
Justin Lohr '08
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: News
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On Monday, the U.S. Representative for northeast Philadelphia spoke at Saint Joseph's University regarding the health care situation in the United States, particularly with regards to child health care.
Representative Allyson Schwartz of the 13th Congressional District spoke before the Health and Society class taught by George Dowdall, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology.
Schwartz first provided students with a brief overview of recent legislation about health care before opening the discussion to the class for question and answer session.
She explained that health care has been a central focus of her political career as both a state and national representative.
"It is something I care deeply about," Schwartz said.
She said that her work in Congress has been centered around helping families receive health care, with the ultimate intention of seeing the United States adopt a universal health care system that provides care for citizens of all ages.
Before explaining the specifics of child health care, she provided the class with an overview of the major sources of health insurance in the United States: corporate employers, Medicare, and Medicaid.
In particular, Schwartz has worked with the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides 6.6 million children with health insurance. These children, she said, come from families whose income is too great to qualify for Medicaid and yet too small to afford health care for their children.
"We're talking about families that make $30,000 to $40,000 a year, which is way too much to qualify for Medicaid," she said. "But there's no way if you make $40,000 or if you make $50,000 a year that, after you pay your mortgage and your car insurance and maybe energy costs and maybe child care costs, that you can afford to spend $8,000 or $10,000 on health insurance."
She said that, despite the successes of SCHIP, there are still approximately nine million children who are not covered by the program.
Representative Allyson Schwartz of the 13th Congressional District spoke before the Health and Society class taught by George Dowdall, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology.
Schwartz first provided students with a brief overview of recent legislation about health care before opening the discussion to the class for question and answer session.
She explained that health care has been a central focus of her political career as both a state and national representative.
"It is something I care deeply about," Schwartz said.
She said that her work in Congress has been centered around helping families receive health care, with the ultimate intention of seeing the United States adopt a universal health care system that provides care for citizens of all ages.
Before explaining the specifics of child health care, she provided the class with an overview of the major sources of health insurance in the United States: corporate employers, Medicare, and Medicaid.
In particular, Schwartz has worked with the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides 6.6 million children with health insurance. These children, she said, come from families whose income is too great to qualify for Medicaid and yet too small to afford health care for their children.
"We're talking about families that make $30,000 to $40,000 a year, which is way too much to qualify for Medicaid," she said. "But there's no way if you make $40,000 or if you make $50,000 a year that, after you pay your mortgage and your car insurance and maybe energy costs and maybe child care costs, that you can afford to spend $8,000 or $10,000 on health insurance."
She said that, despite the successes of SCHIP, there are still approximately nine million children who are not covered by the program.
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