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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, and Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) today introduced legislation blocking a directive from the Bush administration that restricts the ability of states to cover uninsured children through the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The New Jersey congressman also announced that his subcommittee would hold a hearing on the legislation next Thursday.
The Protecting Children's Health Coverage Act of 2008 comes in response to a questionable August 17th directive from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) outlining several stringent guidelines for states that provide SCHIP eligibility to children in families with annual incomes above $44,000.
The administration's directive requires states to assure that 95 percent of the children in the state whose families earn below $35,200 are enrolled in the program before reaching out to children above that level. Currently, no state meets this rigid guideline. The directive also prevents states from enrolling for one year any eligible children who lose their private health insurance.
Pallone and Shea-Porter's legislation invalidates CMS' August 17th directive, preventing CMS from applying any of the provisions included in the directive when it reviews state plans. The legislation also requires CMS to review within 30 days the original proposals from states whose plans were either rejected or amended based on the directive.
"At a time when the number of uninsured children is steadily rising due to the economic recession, Congress must overturn the Bush administration's mean-spirited and illegal children's health directive," Pallone said. "Our legislation ensures states can meet the health care needs of tens of thousands of uninsured children who are left behind under this directive."
"The Bush administration is actively interfering with states and their successful children’s health care programs," Shea-Porter said. "There are so many American families that can’t afford health insurance in this economy, and it is inexcusable to target these vulnerable children."
Last year, the Bush administration used the August 17th directive to reject a New York plan that would have increased the SCHIP eligibility level to provide coverage for an additional 50,000 currently uninsured children. CMS also forced Louisiana to amend its plan to meet the August 17th directive. By August of 2008, 23 states that have or have sought to improve health coverage for children will be affected by the directive.
“I applaud Reps. Pallone and Shea-Porter for their leadership in working to protect the millions of Americans who rely on SCHIP and Medicaid for health care coverage,” said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. “At a time when the number of uninsured Americans is growing, it’s shameful that this Administration has taken steps to block State efforts to provide coverage. This critical legislation would nullify a directive that would cause tens of thousands of children to miss out on coverage and put the health of the most vulnerable among us at unnecessary, indefensible risk. I look forward to working with my colleagues to move this bill forward as quickly as possible.”
Both the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) have issued legal opinions concluding that the directive violates the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which requires an administration to keep Congress informed about the rulemaking activities of federal agencies and to allow Congressional review of rules.
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