'Health care should be a right, and not a privilege,' said Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) as he introduced legislation this week which would guarantee health care coverage for all of the nation's children.

Currently about 9 million children lack any health insurance. Dingell's plan, co-authored with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) program by increasing federal subsidies to states to cover uninsured children.

Under the current program, shortages of federal funds prevent states from providing coverage for about 6 million children who currently qualify for S-CHIP.

The Dingell-Clinton proposals would guarantee those children access to coverage as well as expanding qualification for S-CHIP to middle-income families with uninsured children.

The plan would also tack on subsidies to businesses in order to provide family health care benefits for their employees.

'Frankly, it is a disgrace that we, in the wealthiest country in the world, have nearly 9 million children without health coverage,' Dingell was quoted as saying. 'Most are in families of working parents who have jobs that do not provide health insurance coverage. And many of these families cannot afford to buy coverage on their own.'