Pete Sessions letter to Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., July 20, 2000

PETE SESSIONS COMMITTEE ON RULES COMMITTEE ON BANKING RESULTS CAUCUS CHAIRMAN July 20, 2000 Congress of tlje Uttifeb States ftouae of «epreeentattoes The Honorable Robert Ehrlich United States House of Representatives 315 Cannon Washington, D.C. 20515-OOOJ^ Dear Congressmarfi^hrUchC^ ^ jo t52" J 1318 LONGWORTH BUILDING WASHINGTON. DC 20615-4305 TELEPHONE: 202.225.2231 □ 100 E. CORSICANA STREET ATHENS. TEXAS 75751-2502 TELEPHONE: 903.675.8288 Last week I introduced HR 4825, the Family Opportunity Act of 2000, which is the House companion bill to S. 2274 (introduced by Senators Grassley and Kennedy). The Family Opportunity Act is modeled after the ‘Ticket to Work” or Work Incentives Act (P.L. 106-170), which was passed into law earlier this Congress. I am respectfully asking for your support through co-sponsorship and by your requesting of your chairman a markup of this legislation in the Commerce Committee. As you may know, my wife and I have two wonderful children. Our younger son, Alex, was bom with Down Syndrome and suffered from a number of major complications related to his condition. Our family has been fortunate in that we have been able to access and afford the medical care that Alex has needed. However, so many families are faced with “impossible” decisions as they consider how to get the care that their child needs. Whereas the Work Incentives Act focused on helping adults with disabilities, the Family Opportunity Act helps families with children with disabilities. The Family Opportunity Act creates a Medicaid “buy in” for disabled children whose family income or resources are above poverty level. Cost sharing up to the full premium may be required within certain guidelines that protect lower income families. In a recent survey of 20 states, 64 percent of families with disabled children report that they are turning down jobs, turning down raises, turning down overtime, and are unable to earn enough money to adequately provide for their family- just so their child can access Medicaid. Sadly, many families are faced with the difficult options of staying impoverished, becoming impoverished or simply giving up custody of their child. Though we are approaching “crunch time” in the legislative calendar, I ask for your assistance in making this a priority as I have devoted myself to doing. The Family Opportunity Act has over 60 cosponsors in the Senate and we have begun to build our own list of bipartisan cosponsors. Truly this bill enjoys both bipartisan mid bicameral support. Thank you for taking the time to review this legislation. Please feel free to contact me or Elan Liang in my office at 5-223 1 if we can be of assistance. Member of Congress PS/el