OPINION & EDITORIAL
Children’s health care should expand
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by Guest Columnist
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Over the past year, the 110th U.S. Congress has come together, put aside partisan politics and succeeded in passing several major pieces of progressive legislation. From an increase of the minimum wage to a reversal of the raid on student aid, this Congress has fulfilled its promise to improve the quality of life for every American. Yet, at the most critical junctures, President Bush has stood in the way of progress. Mr. Bush has already vetoed potentially life-saving stem cell research and now has threatened to veto an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Plan.
SCHIP, initiated in 1997, provides federal matching funds to help states expand health care coverage to poor, uninsured children. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this program covers more than 6.6 million children nationwide — children who would otherwise not receive quality health care. The expansion of SCHIP was originally co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who has been on the forefront of the fight for health care accessibility. The House of Representatives passed the bill on Tuesday, 265-159, with 45 Republicans voting in favor of the expansion. The Senate is also expected to pass it with an overwhelming majority. While a veto could be overridden in the Senate, the House is still 19 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed.
This legislation is pressing because SCHIP is set to expire this Sunday. If nothing has passed, tens of thousands of kids will lose their coverage unless Mr. Bush signs this bill into law. The bill is a compromise between Republicans and Democrats that will renew SCHIP for five years and cover an additional 4 million children, mostly from extremely low-income families.
Why, then, is Mr. Bush threatening to veto it? According to The New York Times, Mr. Bush believes it "would be an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American." Apologies, Mr. Bush, but when 46 million of my fellow Americans lack health care, the government needs to step in. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said recently that he thought "the president's had some pretty bad advice on this." Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, said he was "disappointed" with the veto threat.
But what does a veto mean for SCHIP and the 6.6 million children it currently covers? Twelve states will run out of money next month, according to HHS, including Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. Massachusetts, where former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney initiated a universal health care program, will also run out of money in its SCHIP program. Iowa is also one of these 12 states. Connect the dots: a Republican candidate for president who has made overtures to improving health care, a pivotal presidential primary state and a president who refuses to prioritize health care. Come 2008, don't be surprised if many candidates, even Republicans, distance themselves from Mr. Bush's misguided decision.
Fortunately, here in Wisconsin health care has been a priority for Gov. Jim Doyle and the Democratic leadership in the state Legislature. Last winter, SeniorCare — think Medicare Part D, except more effective and cost-efficient — was saved from the federal budget-cutting axe thanks in part to Wisconsin's dedicated congressional delegation, including Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Kohl and Mr. Feingold. BadgerCare, Wisconsin's SCHIP program, even has waivers from the federal government so it can offer low-income parents adequate coverage. Many low-income pregnant women and more than 56,600 children are currently enrolled in BadgerCare, and — if SCHIP escapes Bush's veto pen — it could be expanded to include various other demographics, including low-income adults and recent graduates who are no longer covered by their parents' health care.
Wisconsin remains on the forefront of progressivism when it comes to health care quality and accessibility, especially recently. The state Legislature is hard at work on an almost universal plan called Healthy Wisconsin. It would set up a health insurance pool and allow businesses to buy in, reducing costs for small businesses, cutting premiums by 30 percent and reducing the uninsured rate in Wisconsin by 50 percent. While Democrats have offered to drop the legislation in an effort to pass the state budget, Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, promises to reintroduce an updated and improved version in the coming months.
But the time to act for Mr. Bush is now. Without his signature on the SCHIP bill, 6.6 million American children will go without the most basic health care. Congress has come together, Mr. Bush, and they have sent you a clear, bipartisan message: Our country cannot afford to let a program as valuable and successful as SCHIP to expire this Sunday. Forego the veto, Mr. Bush, and save the State Children's Health Insurance Plan.
Suchita Shah (shah2@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in neurobiology. She is also the vice chair of the College Democrats of Madison.
Anonymous (September 27, 2007 @ 6:12pm):
Bravo! From Atlanta, Georgia - keep up the good work! It is about time that people realize that health care is not a "plannable" consumer product like food, housing or transporation and that even the most "yuppy" middle class family can be bankrupted or insurance "redlined" by a serious illness or layoff. Health care is NOT a "commodity" as alleged by the GOP and its free market extremist core, but should be considered a RIGHT in any CIVILIZED nation--especially one as wealthy as the USA. Our so-called "private" health care system is more costly and deprives more from access than all of the so-called (by the likes of Bush and Romney) "European socialist health care systems" which provide care for ALL citizens at much lower cost to patients, public and business than the "private" American system. What is WRONG with a "government run" system--every major industrial democracy has one and they are all better overall than ours. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! Sincerly, Dennis Michael Smith, Peachtree City, Georgia 30269
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