SCHIP: Will This Be the Day?

by Tim Foley

Published January 27, 2009 @ 09:20AM PT

If all goes well, the long-awaited reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP will pass the Senate today. Given that a very similar bill passed with huge bipartisan margins last year, you might think passage of the bill would be an excellent cement for the spirit of bipartisanship that, at least in theory, stemmed from the inauguration and the spirit of the time. You might also think, “No way would they make something as popular as children’s health a partisan football, especially given the uproar the last time.”

Yeah, well, the proof will be in the pudding, because we’ve already heard a disproportionately high amount of bellyaching from conservatives in the Senate. The objections are two-fold.

First, this year’s version of the bill would waive what is currently a five-year waiting period before the children of legal immigrants can apply for SCHIP and Medicaid. Let me say this again: LEGAL immigrants. People who applied to come here, got accepted, did all the paperwork, pay their taxes, etc. For somewhat obvious reasons, no senator wants to go on the record as to why it’s OK to deny those children health care for five years. But somehow it’s an outrage of partisan politics for the Democrats that this provision is in there. I’m with Jay Rockefeller on this one. The principle should be, “All lawfully present children should have timely access to health care.”

The second unbearable provision is that the SCHIP bill, they say, does not do enough to prevent families who could purchase private insurance from signing up their kids with SCHIP instead. If that sounds like a familiar objection, it should – it’s the rationale for George W. Bush twice vetoing the bill. The Heritage Foundation, Sen. Grassley and Sen. Kyl have been outspoken about how lax some states are in implementing their SCHIP eligibility for families within 250% of the poverty line. In some of the more bizarre statements, there’s talk of “replacing private insurance with government insurance” and even Pres. Obama breaking his number one health care talking point that “if you like your coverage, you can keep it,” by allowing SCHIP to insidiously take away the private coverage those families can afford.

OK, quick reality check. Number one, if a family of four making $48,750 a year (about 250% of the poverty line) decides that it makes more sense for them to enroll in SCHIP than the private insurance industry, that’s not them being denied choice. That’s using their choice. One could also say, using their choice wisely. Secondly, if they have no insurance provided by their employer, the average cost for a family plan would be $12,000 – basically 25% of their pre-tax income. Now $48,750 in Arkansas is different than $48,750 in New York – which is why Arkansas isn’t looking for an extension to 250% of the poverty line, and New York is. The original wisdom of the bill – which let the states come up with a program that works for their population – still works.

Look, it’s time to get this done. Both of these “unbearable” details are part and parcel of the notion of extending coverage to children whose families can’t afford it. The debate is happening in the Senate right now. If you have not yet done so, please email your senators and let them know it’s time to pass SCHIP!

UPDATE -- 17:29 pm

They have not finished proposing and defeating amendments to the bill (of the 45 proposed so far, they've ranged from Orrin Hatch "Can we just put this language I want that you took out back in?" amendment to Jim DeMint's "Hey, instead of reauthorizing SCHIP, why don't we do something completely different" amendment.)  Because the Finance Committee is marking up the stimulus bill, there aren't enough senators on the floor to close off debate, so they're shelving it for tonight and picking up again tomorrow.

Sweet dreams, uninsured children of America.  Fingers crossed for tomorrow.