Washington, DC – Congressman Randy Neugebauer voted Wednesday to extend an important children’s health insurance program.  Neugebauer also opposed the final version of the same bill, H.R. 3162, that raids a successful Medicare program that benefits more than 350,000 Texas seniors.

   “I believe SCHIP is a worthy program, and I support extending it so those families near poverty can get health care for their children,” said Neugebauer.

   H.R. 3162 concerns the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which Congress created in 1997 to enable uninsured children from low-income families to receive health care.  Currently SCHIP covers children in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the poverty level, filling the gap for those who make too much to be eligible for Medicaid but who may not make enough to afford health insurance. Neugebauer supported continuing this policy, however it did not pass.

   The House did approve H.R. 3162 which would take SCHIP far beyond its mission of providing health care to needy children by removing any income limits on recipients.  For example, the state of New York has a plan to expand coverage to include families whose income is 400 percent of the poverty level.  Under this plan, a family of four whose income is $82,600 would be eligible for taxpayer-funded health care. This dramatic expansion requires $75 billion in new SCHIP spending and uses cuts in the popular Medicare Advantage program to help pay for the new spending.

   “As we renew this important program, we should focus limited tax dollars on providing health care for children most in need of health insurance,” said Neugebauer.  “A massive increase in SCHIP spending to include adults, illegal immigrants, and children from a family whose annual income tops $82,000 is bad policy.  Such an expansion requires tax increases and the gutting of the successful Medicare Advantage program that has given more than 7,000 seniors in the 19th District more choices and greater control over their health care.”

   The House-passed H.R. 3162 also opens the door for illegal immigrants to receive SCHIP benefits. Under current law, recipients must prove citizenship or five years of legal residency to be eligible for the program.  H.R. 3162 strikes that requirement.

   A separate provision of H.R. 3162 would implement a tax on private health insurance policies, which would raise the costs of health care for many Americans.

   “Families working hard to provide for their own health care coverage should not be penalized in order to expand government-sponsored health care,” said Neugebauer.  “This bill ignores the benefits of the private market and competition in health care in order to increase American’s dependence on the government and government health care.”