Reps. Henry A. Waxman, Sander M. Levin, and George Miller, the chairmen of the three committees with jurisdiction over health policy in the U.S. House of Representatives, issued the following statement today regarding the elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions for children, which is included in the historic health care reform law:

"Under the legislation that Congress passed and the President signed yesterday, plans that include coverage of children cannot deny coverage to a child based upon a pre-existing condition.  We have been assured by the Department of Health and Human Services that any possible ambiguity in the underlying bill can be addressed by the Secretary with regulation.

"We fully expect that this legislation will prevent insurance companies from denying coverage.  The concept that insurance companies would even seek to deny children coverage exemplifies why we fought for this reform effort and will continue fighting to ensure all Americans have access to high quality, affordable care."