SCHIP funding is one of those government things that most of us don’t understand, except in simple terms, which often end up being nothing more than sound bites. For Democrats it’s “Healthcare for Kids.” For Republicans it something like “Entitlement Program” or “Increased Taxes.”
Maybe this interview with Congressman Nathan Deal (GA 9th) will be of some help. The program itself was started during the Clinton Administration (you know, back when we had a budget surplus) and expires at the end of this month, September. At the beginning $40 million was allocated for the entire program. Let me see, at 50 states, that’s $800 million per state for 10 years or $80 million a year per state. Of course, I am sure those puny little states with less than a million people, like Wyoming, didn’t get as much money. Anyway, the states got the money in a block grant to spend as they thought best.
As I understand it, the block grant was a set amount determined by some formula. The formula was not particularly fair. States (like Georgia) that did a good job enrolling kids, got penalized and states that didn’t do so good, got more money. As usual, the funding makes no sense. Anyway, as we all know, Georgia ran out of money earlier this year and the state legislature had to deal with the problem when the feds refused Sonny’s plea for “Mo’ Money.”
The program was apparently intended to provide some form of coverage to poor kids whose parents earned less than 200% of the poverty level. I am told that means a family income of about $41,300 which I really don’t understand because I thought the poverty level was a lot less than $20,500. Maybe, that figure is a family of four.
According to Congressman Deal, the program had gone berserk, with states like New York raising the qualifying income to 400% of the poverty level. And then there was New Jersey that had adults on the rolls. Apparently, there weren’t any restrictions in the program that prevented any state from changing the qualification requirements. I don’t know enough to justify these situations, except that I would certainly believe it costs more to live in New York than Georgia, so maybe the poverty level there should be higher. As for New Jersey, well, if it’s a block grant, why can’t we just let the state deal with it. It makes no sense to blame the entire program on these aberrations. You know, deal with it.
I think the real issue, as always, is money. According to Congressman Deal, the Republicans want to add $5 billion to the yearly funding and the Democrats want to add more. I got confused over the exact amount, so I won’t say anything other than that the Democrats wanted to increase it more. According to Congressman Deal, there is a study that establishes that $5 billion a year is enough to cover all the children in America that fall within that original 200% of poverty level. I just don’t know, but it must not be that clear-cut.
I find it hard to believe that $5 billion more will take care of all the kids when you consider the increase in health care costs over the last 10 years, not to mention the increase in our poplulation. But the Bush Administration is adament that its proposal is enough.
Also, according to Congressman Deal if the SCHIP program is expanded to include higher and higher levels of income, it is going to start affecting private insurance. I guess that means that the more people that qualify for help in getting health insurance for their kids, the less the insurance companies get. Now, there is the rub!
The Congressman and I did pretty good until he started talking about Nancy Pelosi getting support down in Lyons, Georgia. At that point it got a little testy. Oh well, it comes with the territory.
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