New Haven , C.T. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro ( Conn. -3) issued the following statement about the Bush Administration’s latest attempt to worsen the nation’s health care crisis by issuing rules to limit the ability of states to expand access to Medicaid.

“Forty-seven million people, including many working families, are without health insurance in this country. These record numbers, combined with the fact that employers are less likely to offer health insurance, make the Administration's visceral opposition to ensuring America 's working families have access to health insurance appalling.

“These callous eligibility restrictions – the same ones that the Administration is attempting to apply to the State Children's health insurance program, but are being fought by governors across the country – come after Ohio attempted to expand Medicaid access to 35,000 children to ensure they have the vital, preventative health care they need to lead healthy lives. Over the past two years the number of uninsured children has grown by one million; a stark reversal after years of steady improvements in coverage for kids. With two recent studies demonstrating that a lack of health insurance is detrimental to a patient’s health, we know more than ever just how critical it is to ensure that America ’s families, and especially our children, have health care.”