Sometimes in politics, you think you've seen it all. Turns out I was wrong.
Just when you thought things at the White House couldn't get any stranger, the president has decided it is good public policy to increase the number of uninsured children in our country.
In the last year, we've seen public opinion building around the principle that no American should be denied health care. The president has answered that call by attempting to limit eligibility for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. SCHIP is a program that provides health care to children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private health insurance.
The president is trying to tell governors like me across the country that until we enroll 95 percent of those eligible for S-CHIP in households making under 200 percent of the poverty line ($41,300 for a family of four), we cannot provide health care to children in families making above 250 percent of the poverty line ($51,625 for a family of four).
Make no mistake. This is a poison pill meant to deny thousands of children health insurance.
While state governments make every effort to enroll as many eligible kids as possible, there will always be some individuals who fail to take advantage of this important program. In New York, we currently enroll 88 percent of children in families making below 200 percent of the poverty level. No state has yet cleared the 95 percent hurdle.
Since many states already enroll children at income thresholds above 250 percent of the poverty level, this means that these new regulations will have the effect of forcing children who already have coverage out of the program. Moreover, New York's historic effort to provide universal coverage for children through SCHIP will not be able to get off the ground because of this bureaucratic sleight of hand.
The president surely knows this. But then that begs the question: Why would he choose to pursue this path?
This isn't about fiscal restraint. The initiative is paid for through a tax on unhealthy cigarettes and other revenue sources. This isn't about good public policy. SCHIP has been wildly successful in providing health care for nearly seven million of our nation's vulnerable children.
The actions of the White House speak to what we've all known for far too long. When faced with the choice of covering thousands of children, they'll bring up the "big government" bogeyman and then stick their heads in the sand, ignoring the realities facing working families across the country.
This is not the way it has to be. Health care for our children should not be a partisan issue.
I have joined governors of both parties from across the country in trying to expand SCHIP coverage. My initiative to expand SCHIP and provide universal coverage to New York's children was passed by a large bi-partisan majority in our state legislature. I have even committed to taking legal action if CMS refuses to do what is right, follow the law, and insure these kids.
While we promise to keep doing our best to hold the President accountable, we cannot do it alone. We need your help
There are 400,000 uninsured children in New York and 9 million around the country who are counting on you to be their voice. Call your congressman and tell him or her to overturn the president's decision. Write the White House and tell them what you think.
I just wrote a column in the New York Daily News about this issue, which you can find here. Writing a letter to the editor of your local paper is a great way to make your opinion heard.
Standing by and letting this injustice go unanswered is simply not an option. The stakes are too high. You must do your part.
If we fail to act, 400,000 children in New York - and millions more across America - will continue to rely on the oldest and most precarious health insurance policy of all: waking up every morning and praying that they don't get sick.
Click here to watch a video of Governor Spitzer and Congressman Rangel and discussing this issue. Governor Spitzer and Governor Schwarzenegger also recently wrote a letter to the President demanding that these new rules be be withdrawn (more).
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The only thing that matters is killing people in Iraq, stealing all the Oil, and stuffing Bush/Chene
America is one fucked up country.
A healthcare system works best if it exists to care for citizenry rather than to produce a profit. No profit making concern will ever do its best for the patients. It will always seek to do its best for its stockholde
Use it in good health!
Dear Senator/Re
This is just the seed. Plant it everywhere and watch it grow.
SO WHY WOULD IT BE ANY DIFFERENT TO CODEM 1,MILLION CHILDREN TO DEATH IN THE U. FOR NOT HAVEING MEDICAL CAR / INS.
WE HAVE PLENTY OF ILIGAL IMMERGRANT
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We are the ONLY country in the western world that doesn't provide universal health care for its citizens. People in Canada, England, France, AND CUBA have longer life expectancy rates and lower infant mortality rates than we do--the richest country in the world. When you see Sicko, you will feel ripped off enough to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!
This is not rocket science! It is all about corporate GREED, and it's KILLING PEOPLE! Other countries provide *start-of-
Go see Sicko and then DEMAND UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE!! I am retiring in 4 years and I am moving out of this country when I do. My son is a medical student, and after seeing how healthcare works in truly civilized countries, he has determined NOT to practice medicine in the U.S.A.
To learn everything you need to know about healthcare in this country and rest of the civilized world, GO SEE SICKO!!
Wake up before the lights go out as we, lower than middle class people hope to see our light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunat
Clearly from this blog, anywhere, there appears to be no consensus in this country on how we view all of our children. Reproducti
Yet this Administra
We seem to have rather distorted views of what "private" means and what "public" means with respect to the provision and payment for healthcare
We are all to blame but we also are all required to step up to our responsibi
"Let the market decide" is a false catchall that has brought us a dollar that is worthless, plumetting to record lows under Bush/Chene
If you honestly believe that children in America whose families or single head of household is unable to pay for health insurace, who become ill should be left to die on the streets or elsewhere (out of your sight), your U.S. citizenshi
The issue is, and has been for years, the lack of leadership that strives to promote the primary promise of our Constituti
Why does the Democratic Party continue to promote the corporate whores that dominate the list of presidenti
They don't care how complex and insane the system becomes, just makes everyone more dependent on the government
Well played, government and toady beancounte
My doctors tell me that 55% of my health care dollar that goes them to filling out insurance forms.
We used to have public health hospitals for the poor and some veterns. Where are they? They worked.
Health care is a right, part of "promote the general Welfare," as The Preamble to the Constituti
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquilit