Here we go again...
Oct 25, 04:01 PM CST
The House passed a revised version of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill this afternoon. It passed by a vote of 265-142.
Our delegation, of course, voted against providing coverage to our state’s needy children, AGAIN.
On October 2, the Congress sent the President H.R. 976, the bipartisan State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill, which provided 10 million American children with health care. The bill had been passed by strong, bipartisan votes of 265 to 159 in the House and 67 to 29 in the Senate. And yet, unfortunately, on October 3, the President vetoed this bipartisan bill.
Today, the House considered a revised version of this bill, which once again provides 10 million American children with health care while meeting certain concerns that have been raised. The Senate will pass this bill next week and we hope that this time the President will sign this bill.
The bipartisan bill that the President vetoed had included several provisions that were designed to ensure that: 1) the focus would be enrolling low-income children in SCHIP first; 2) SCHIP would not cover illegal immigrants; 3) SCHIP coverage of adults would be phased out; and 4) children leaving private insurance for SCHIP would be minimized.
However, concerns have been raised in all four of these areas. Therefore, the revised bill includes provisions to meet these concerns.
The revised bill further clarifies that the legislation is targeted on enrolling low-income children first:
SCHIP coverage will be capped at 300 percent of poverty.
States will only receive bonus payments for enrolling eligible children in Medicaid, the lowest income children in a state.
The revised bill further clarifies that the legislation does not allow illegal immigrants to get SCHIP:
If the Social Security Administration cannot confirm an applicant’s citizenship, the applicant will be required to provide the state with additional documentation to confirm eligibility.
The revised bill further clarifies that the legislation is focused on prioritizing children’s coverage and phasing out adults:
Whereas under the original bill, childless adults are phased out over two years, under the revised bill they are phased out over one year.
The revised bill also further clarifies that the legislation is designed to minimize children moving from private insurance to SCHIP (known as “crowd-out”):
All states will be required to develop plans and implement recommended best practices for minimizing “crowd-out.”
Premium assistance programs (using SCHIP funds to help subsidize employer-sponsored health coverage for a child) are added to the list of things a state can do to get bonus payments.
– by Eric Fought | Send this to a friend
