"An Aggressive Effort" for Children's Health Insurance

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will take one of the most important actions in this new Congress when it votes to renew and improve the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

SCHIP currently provides health care coverage for 6.6 million children across America, and its reauthorization preserves existing coverage while expanding desperately needed health coverage to a total of nearly 10 million American children.

The renewal of SCHIP includes investing $35 billion in new funding. These funds are essential in strengthening SCHIP's financing and increasing health care coverage for an additional four million low-income children, all while improving the quality of health care that children receive.

We must take note that this program has the support of the majority of Congress and the American Public. In fact, the only place you can find opposition to providing health care to American children is the White House, as President Bush has made clear his intention to veto SCHIP!

A recent poll by the Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans support expanding the SCHIP program. Additionally, The Hill newspaper reported that a Republican pollster recently found that "62 percent of Republicans favored the $35 billion expansion of the program while 59 percent of GOP voters said they wanted their representative to approve the measure."

Key members of the Republican caucus have also joined in support of this bipartisan legislation. "I am proud to be part of the bipartisan legislation to provide quality health care to millions of uninsured children. We owe it to the future of our nation," said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL).

The SCHIP program not only enjoys overwhelming support with the American people and Congress, but with private health care providers and a majority of governors who administer their states' children's health care programs. In fact, the heads of the Republican Governor's and Democratic Governor's Associations issued a joint call for Congressional action, stating, "This effort to enhance the health of children is a bright spot in an otherwise troubled American health care system and we urge your continued support for it, and by extension, our nation's children." Meanwhile, NPR reports that even the Healthcare Leadership Council, which represents private health care providers, has endorsed the bill and thrown its support behind it.

With everyone from the American public, to the nation's governors, to the private insurance industry working together, it is sad to see President Bush as one of the last obstacles to ensuring the health of our nation's children.

I would close by saying this to the President, "America's children must also have a healthy start in life. ... we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of attention, or information, to stand between these children and the health care they need."

Those words remain as true as the first time George W. Bush spoke them in September 2004 at the Republican National Convention.

Friends, President Bush must sign SCHIP into law; the lives of literally millions of American children depend on it.

Comments

[Peabodies]

If you're such a liberal, Ms. Slaughter, why did you vote to heap scorn on the MoveOn.org ad? Peter Petraeus "Betray us" ad?

[BPCentrisAmerican]

I watched Health and Human Services Secretary, Karl Levitt on Washington Journal this morning and calls from both Democratic, Republican and Independent callers were less than positive. The grassroots in both parties has had it with the Republican line on this issue. Levitt used every bullshit talking point from the GOP's playbook, poor healthcare and long wait times in Canada, Japan, and Europe for critical procedures or no access to procedures at all. SCHIP is the road to socialized medicine and higher taxes. Well Mr Levett I'm all ready getting killed by higher property taxes, energy cost and everything associated with higher energy prices. The cost of domestic programs are being shifted to the sates. One caller informed Mr. Levitt that he was ashamed of being a Republican, well thats easy to remedy, change parties or become an independent.

George Bush's "compassionate conservatism" was a campaign tag line nothing more, nothing less. In his UN speech today, he declared that American's are deeply concerned about the lack of democracy in Myanmar. His kidding right, I have both conservative and liberal friends and believe me this is not their primary concern. I watched Tom Friedman in an interview this past weekend, whom I agree with on few issues, but I do agree with him on this one, Mr. Friedman said on a recent visit to China that everyone he spoke with are focused like a laser on their own economic future, Iraq never enters into the dialogue. The point being that the Bush Administration and the neo-cons are squandering our collective futures in Iraq, and it's time to leave. Six more months or six more years will make little difference, Bush-Cheney's messianic money making crusade must end ASAP. Tom Friedman described George Bush as "border line delusional", I agree.

[deleweye]

While everything you say about the program itself is true, you conveniently - and hypocritically - neglect to mention that it will be largely funded by obscene increases in tobacco taxes.

How about funding your programs fairly, with the cost spread equitably among those who can afford it, instead of taking another easy shot at the one group of politically-correct sub-humans left to abuse - smokers.

[klmebane]

if you think about it, it makes sense to tax tobacco to pay for health care... it might make even more sense to tax all unhealthy things to pay for healthcare, since they cause a majority of the health problems. everyone who uses these items may need care in the future anyway.

[deleweye]

I don't think too many of the children covered by this program are in danger from tobacco-related ailments. If you want to fund health-care on an actuarial basis, you'll have to tax fat, lazy, risk-taking, stupid...

I'm asking why smokers are an acceptable target of opportunity.

[Ambiorix]

Short video about health care in Belgium:

http://www.mijnsocialezekerheid.be/nl/videos/vid.html

[mouselion]

That's right. Let all the parents with enough money take their kids out of the decrepit schools into charter schools, while the kids of bad or sick or disabled parents get left behind.

Say you are actually funding poor children's health care and while middle income earners get squeezed, leave both behind be de-funding health care all together.

Be hostile towards the health care of veterans while you start an ill-advised war, and only start to do them (sorta) right, when it's exposed that you really don't care about them. You just want them for bomb-fodder while you gain control of your "national interest". The cost of which would take care of every American's health care needs five times over.

Want to stop terrorism? Start by helping the children -- tomorrows potential peacemakers --or terrorists. Your choice!

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

I keep seeing the income number of "eligible" families going up and up... I read it was 52K a year per household.­.. I'm starting to see 80K. Can anyone clarify or verify?

thanks.

[klmebane]

income level pertains to a family of four, two adults and two children.

[Rxtr]

The infrastructure of health care in this country is already in place, it's called Medicare. If you don't think it's a good system, try taking it away from your grandma. The BIG problem with current plan is the Insurance Industry themselves. The revenue stream that funds these huge corporations is directly diverted from the HEALTHCARE industry. We need to get the fangs of the insurance "industry" out of our necks and redirect that revenue stream toward doctors and nurses and hospitals instead of corporate headquarters and Lear jets.

[Seattle34]

United Healthcare LOST $1.1B last year and earned $1.3B the year before on $18B revenue. That's a pretty sad profit margin, honestly. That's 7.2%. That's a fraction of what Apple made in terms of net revenue.

Healthcare companies just aren't making much money. So where do you think it's going?

[Rxtr]

http://www.forbes.com/2005/04/20/05ceoland.html

United Healthcare paid their CEO $124.77 Million last year. Their stockholders should take the matter to the board. My point is that this entire stream of revenue is being siphoned away from doctors and nurses and the health CARE industry is being sucked dry. It doesn't have to be this way. $124 million will cover a lot of SCHIP children.

[chinohillster]

Defunding SCHIP will make sure that there is No Child's Behind Left! (or close to it)

BTW - I lived in The Land Of Steady Habits Also Known As Connecticut for six years; I worked for Travelers, MassMutual and CIGNA; I knew lots of people who worked for Aetna, The Hartford and (insert_na­me_of_insu­rance_comp­any_here).

If you want to know part of the reason why insurance costs so much and why this industry is so enmeshed with the medical-political complex, a trip to Hartford, Connecticut (and environs) would be highly educational, from the lush campuses of Aetna and The Hartford, to the massive managment structures of these companies!

[BUSHsurvivor]

Bush has spent the last 6 years touting No Child left Behind, but does not have a clue that a healthy child does better in school!

Guess My Pet Goat didn't cover that!

[kiafaret]

The gop does not want children to do better in school. Education of the masses would take them out of power for decades to come. Sometimes, I think that the lead in toys for the past 5/10 years was a plan to dumb down a couple of generations of the population. By China or even our own government. Scary...th­ats what 6 years of the Bush cabal has done to me. After all he is in office due to a bigoted, misinformed, ignorant electorate.

[wndsides]

I do not find it surprising that the President has once again found himself to be an obstacle. How a country treats it's children and it's elderly speaks volumes. GWB has been playing God since he's been in office. It saddens me and angers me, for what I go through to pay for my son's medication. This will be a huge concern of mine in the next election. It's up to us Moms to win this fight, to pressure our elected officials and just not take no for an answer. I believe that karma will one day catch up to GWB and what a glorious day it will be.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

I'm with you wndsides. I too am concerned about my sons future... waaaay ahead of what my needs are.

[aaronburr]

This is a cynical political move camouflaged to make it look like those nasty, unfeeling Republicans are trying to cut aid "for the children". Baloney. Nobody is trying to cut coverage for genuinely needy children. This is about an unwarranted expansion of coverage to families who make over $80K/year and defining adults up to age 25 as "children". Most of my friends and I don't make anywhere near this new "poverty" level but we pay our taxes and we pay for our insurance and that of our children.

Get this, Ms. Representative Slaughter: that's our tax money you are spending and there are a lot better social causes to spend it on than subsidizing insurance for 25 year old adults and families making over $80K/year. Anybody who earns that much money and still can't pay for their own family insurance coverage needs to redefine their priorities and they can do it while keeping their hands out of the wallets of those of us responsible enough to pay our own way.

[klmebane]

my parents made between 110 and 180k throughout my whole childhood and even with that income if they hadn't had healthcare through their jobs they couldn't have afforded private insurance. when one person can pay for single member insurance out of pocket and have monthly premiums over $500 you expect paying for more than one person out of pocket (and often having to still pay a large deductible and 20% of the total bill, which can be a lot of the bill is in the range of 10's of 1000's) to be so easy that everyone should 'pay their own way' and stop whining? it's not about being responsible enough to pay outrageous amounts of money for sub-par medical coverage, it's about being responsible enough to realize that we shouldn't be taken advantage of like that in a time of weakness. what about all the other financial responsibilites that people have like property, utilities, day-to-day living expenses, gas.

if people want to be able to use the argument "get your hand out of my wallet" then they need to demand the same of every other policy in the united states. if it is only wasting money and not doing what it's supposed to, then start bitching about the money being thrown away by misuse or inadequacy of programs in public schools, veterans affairs, scientific research, sex education, etc... if we don't teach our youth how to be financially and socially responsible then we only have ourselves to blame when that same youth grows up to be irresponsible and stupid.

i'm supposed to feel sorry for you because you you make way more than 80k? sorry, that doesn't make it past my bullshit meter.

i don't hear you objecting to spending TRILLIONS on the war in iraq. and you do realize that not all 25 year olds are capable of caring for themselves, right??

[mommamia526]

Aaron. The 25 yr old may be a medical student and the price of that education is high. He will not be able to pay that back in years. The 25 yr old may be the doctor you will need later.

[drricklippin]

This is a political nightmare for "W"-the perfect storm. The average American, who doesn't have time or energy to dig into the SCHIP legislative details would see "W" as a cruel and venal person to even imagine not providing health care to US children.

I CHALLENGE HUFF POST READERS- WHAT COULD MORE EMOTIONAL THAN THAT TOPIC?

Yet Bush in his typical self destructive stubborn style digs in his heels on any legislation that smacks of more government involvement in health care. This -despite the embarrassment of our failed US system against our peer nations.

He loses either way if he vetos because the nation is ready for more government in health care.

What better place to start than with our children?

Hillary will destroy "W" on this veto!

As for me, I am for prevention­(idividual AND institutional) as the only way out of this whole health care mess in this country and abroad.

Dr. Rick Lippin
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Once again Dr. Rick... your input is insightful. I too am a big proponent of PREVENTION. I watch my diet, eat organic as often as I can afford it, drink my FILTERED water, and so on. I feed my family all the best foods I can find. Sure I give in to a brownie every once in a while... or even a double bacon cheeseburg­er...but only when I make it myself from organic meats.

My son, who is almost 2, has never eaten commercial baby food. I prepare every single meal he eats from fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains. He drinks only water and refuses sugary juices or whatever is out there. What a surprise..­. he has had ONE cold so far..ONE..­.. and it's not like I don't catch him licking shopping cart handles. He is exposed to lots of other children as well. We are all very healthy and I believe our diet is the reason.

[drricklippin]

ConcernedA­boutRFutur­e

In addition to liking your blog handle I appreciate your support of my ideas and I really appreciate your taking such good care of yourself,your family and your young son. He is lucky to have you as his Mom. :)

In addition to diet I'm sure his immune system gets a measurable boost from your love. :)

Dr. Rick Lippin
http://medicalcrises.blogspot.com

[klmebane]

if only we could effectively teach the value of proper nutrition in schools... effective sex education would be nice too, but that is a whole other ball of wax.

[mommamia526]

The arguments that are useful are that universal healthcare ensures that everyone has insurance and is covered. Those who can not pay will also be covered, but their premium will be paid out of funds similar to those of Medicaid now. Those people who can work, despite their health issues, such as hypertension for example, will not be excluded from work. Ptients can not be cancelled when they need to see the doctor, and doctors get to do the procedures they are trained for, and will get paid for their work. Another issue is Malpractice Insurance. That is OVERHEAD neither the doctor nor the patient needs. Instead, doctors who are incompetent or criminal should lose their license to practice, just like everyone else loses his job under those conditions. Streamlining of paperwork, and cutting much of it out, helps doctors and patients tremendously. Making records electronically transferrable helps too and patients can get hardcopies or even electronic copies as well. All that can be done with an Universal Program. I want my doctor to be able to practice medicine. I do not want a paperpusher. And by the way, insurance agents, employers, teachers, and many others who make medical decisions in the U.S. ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO DO THAT. Nurses are organizing. Doctors should join them. Medicine is teamwork. Another costly issue is foreign patients who come here with the express intent to get free medical care, do not pay a cent, and leave. No one can attach their private property or income abroad, nor do they lose all they possess, as is the case with American patients. One can not put a lien on property in a foreign country. We need treaties on healthcare and reciprocity, as with Social Security.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Excellent comment! I totally agree.

[chett]

The fact that private health care providers - they, who've trippled my premiums in the past couple years - like the plan automatically renders me skeptical. Why would you possibly try to use that as a selling point?

[klmebane]

the providers aren't the ones that trippled your premiums, thats the insurance companies. a large percentage of doctors actually follow their hippocratic oath to help their patients.

[TLV]

I was saddened to hear the director of Health and Human Services on C-SPAN this morning say that, in his opinion, universal health care will lead to long waits for scheduling of care, long lines at the providers, and a plethora of funding problems. This makes it clearly obvious to me that this man has little intelligence or is simply singing the tune he has been ordered to sing.

Since we do not yet have universal health care, couldn't panel of highly intelligent Americans work out these issues BEFORE it is adopted? Or are they unwilling to use their God-given brains to solve these problems? If other countries have had universal health care for a period of time, we must study what has worked and what hasn't.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

OF COURSE he is told what to say TLV. No one can be trusted right now... they fear for their jobs... perhaps even their lives.

If other countries can have UNIV HC... why can't we? Really? Are we too stupid? Too healthy...­.or just being misled by the wealthy?

[Peabodies]

The latter.

[Seattle34]

It's 4 months for an MRI in Canada. It's two hours for an MRI in the US. You do the math

[SteveL]

We can spend a $trillion plus to kill Iraq citizens. Bush would not want to waste tax dollars on children’ health.

[Seattle34]

To be correct, it's the insurgents that are doing most of the killing of civilians.

[klmebane]

um, actually, no it's not. our bombs and raids and taking of "insurgent strongholds" did not only claim the lives of the "bad guys".