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There’s been a lot of debate surrounding the bipartisan reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that President Bush recently vetoed. Unfortunately, this discussion hasn’t always been accompanied by all of the correct facts regarding what the bill would do and who it would cover. I’d like to set the record straight.
Most importantly the bipartisan compromise bill preserves coverage for all 6 million children currently in the SCHIP program. The bill also extends coverage to 4 million additional children who are currently eligible but do not receive coverage due to a lack of funding. This means that the 4,715 children currently enrolled in the Healthy Families program in San Luis Obispo County will continue to receive health coverage and thousands more children in our community will now be able to enroll in the program. This stands in stark contrast to President Bush’s plans for SCHIP – which nationally would drop coverage for over 800,000 children currently enrolled in the program and offer no opportunity for others who are currently eligible to enroll.
In addition, this compromise bill improves the health care that children will receive by including dental coverage and mental health services. Our bill provides States with incentives and the support needed to enroll the lowest-income uninsured children first. And, unlike legislation passed when Republicans ran Congress, the whole bill is actually paid for so we aren’t saddling future generations with more debt.
With so many good things to focus on in this bill, opponents have resorted to making things up about the legislation in order to attack it. For example, the Bush Administration falsely asserted that this bill extends coverage to families making $83,000 per year and undocumented immigrants, to which Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said, “The President’s understanding of our bill is wrong.” In fact, this bill specifically focuses virtually all resources on enrolling children in the poorest of working families. Currently, fewer than 1 in 10 children in SCHIP are from a family of four earning more than $41,000 per year. This is how it will remain under our bill.
Our compromise bill does provide states with the flexibility to cover as many eligible children as they can afford to. That’s why Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of 43 governors who recently wrote to the House and Senate in support of our bill. Presumably, our governor did this because he believes our bill will ensure that no low-income child in California has to lose the health coverage his or her family so desperately relies upon.
Furthermore, the myth that the bill would allow undocumented immigrants to receive health coverage is just that - a myth. Section 605 of the bill says "Nothing in this Act allows Federal payment for individuals who are not legal residents." The SCHIP bill would actually strengthen current eligibility restrictions, requiring for the first time that SCHIP programs establish beneficiaries’ citizenship to enroll - a requirement that currently applies only to Medicaid. It can't get much clearer than that.
It is unfortunate that the President and the Republican leadership in Congress are trying to deflect attention from their opposition to providing health care for 10 million kids by putting out incorrect information about the bill. I agree with Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch’s assessment that this legislation is “an honest compromise which improves a program that works.”
This bill is an important step forward in the effort to provide health insurance coverage for some of the 47 million Americans without it. That’s why the bill was supported by 45 House Republicans, garnered a veto proof majority in the Senate with the help of 18 Republican Senators, and is favored by more than 70% of the American people. It’s also why on October 18th I’ll be voting to override the President’s misguided veto of this bipartisan bill. I hope all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, join me.
Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
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