One of the primary reasons? States have diverted critical SCHIP funds by enrolling more than 700,000 adults nationwide, according to the Congressional Research Service. For example, 87 percent of the SCHIP enrollees in Minnesota are adults, as are 66 percent of enrollees in Wisconsin and 53 percent of enrollees in Arizona. And that’s where the fundamental difference in this SCHIP reauthorization lies: Republicans want to cover low-income children first, but Democrats don’t. Instead, the Democratic bill would continue covering adults – not to mention middle and upper income families and potentially illegal immigrants. Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates this bill would cause two million Americans to drop private insurance to enroll in SCHIP. The program was meant to cover children who don’t have any private health insurance, not those who already do.
House Republicans have outlined clear principles we hope can guide a bipartisan renewal of SCHIP, and we hope Democrats will work with us to improve this program on behalf of the American people. First, we believe any bill must put poor children first and not force children out of private health insurance. We believe SCHIP should cover low-income American children without using budget gimmicks that put the program in financial jeopardy. And we believe low-income and middle-class families need more health care options to purchase affordable, high quality health plans that best meet the needs of their families.
A new USA Today/Gallup Poll confirms that Americans support Republicans’ primary goal in renewing SCHIP: covering low-income children first. According to the poll “52 percent agree with Bush that most benefits should go to children in families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level — about $41,000 for a family of four. Only 40 percent say benefits should go to families earning up to $62,000, as the bill written by Democrats and some Republicans would allow.”
SCHIP has a proven record of success in providing health coverage to lower-income children. House Republicans want to renew this critical program. Instead of covering adults and upper-income families, let’s cover every eligible low-income child that this program was designed to help. That’s what we committed to do in 1997 when we created the program – in a bipartisan way – and that goal should guide our efforts in 2007 as well.
The approval ratings of this Congress are at historic lows, largely because most Americans have failed to see any real accomplishments. If we’re serious about doing what’s in the best interests of low-income children, we should start by working together to strengthen SCHIP and ensure our tax dollars go towards those who need it most. We shouldn’t let that opportunity for a real accomplishment to pass by because of partisan politics.