SCHIP

On February 5^th, President George W. Bush presented his $2.9 trillion budget proposal for the 2008 fiscal year. Prominent in his proposal was a promise to eradicate the budget deficit by 2012; Bush proposed to do this while simultaneously establishing permanent tax cuts for the upper echelons of society and increasing spending on defense and homeland security – but while concurrently decreasing domestic spending, including health care plans. Were his proposal to be passed, this would prove to be a huge problem for programs such as the joint federal-state State Children’s Insurance Health Program (SCHIP) whose funding is already insufficient and which is looking to expand its coverage; one estimate claims that SCHIP needs over $800 million just to cover its deficits. As a direct consequence, the medical coverage of the 6 million children already covered by SCHIP would be endangered and the potential for millions more children, and adults, to receive coverage would be eliminated. SCHIP was begun in October 2007 with the intent of providing healthcare coverage to low-income children who were not eligible for Medicaid. Now that SCHIP’s 10 year plan is coming to an end, they are seeking reauthorization; while both Republicans and Democrats alike believe that SCHIP should not be allowed to expire, “Bush's proposed 2008 budget… would only expand funding by $4.2 billion over the same period.” Bush’s proposal would also cut out parents and pregnant women from being eligible to receive this healthcare unless they were under 200 percent of the federal poverty line.

The less than $5 million expansion of funding that Bush proposes to spend on SCHIP over the course of 10 years, does not even begin to cover what advocates of the group are seeking. Bush’s position is ludicrous as the ultimate goal should be to guarantee healthcare insurance for the children of America. According to United Press International, “more than 60 child health organizations have signed on to a letter to Congress calling for $60 billion in additional funding for the program over the next five years to sustain current enrollment and fund proposed expansions” -- clearly Bush’s proposal does not even begin to cover the funds that are needed. SCHIP should receive the funding that it requests as it is doing tangible good; in 2006, a study indicated that despite the numbers of uninsured people nationwide, the number of uninsured children had decreased by 20% since SCHIP’s inception. There are concrete benefits of medical insurance. For example, uninsured children are two as likely “not to receive any medical care in a given year compared to children with insurance”; additionally, the number of uninsured children who do not have a personal doctor or nurse is nearly triple that of those who are insured. Having the ability to receive medical care from a medical practitioner with whom you are comfortable is invaluable and given the Democratic stance in favor of SCHIP’s proposed expansion and given the federal majority of Democrats, SCHIP will hopefully be able to receive the funds to further pursue its mission.