 The Bush administration has announced new
restrictions on the government's Children's Health Insurance Program,
or SCHIP, that will restrict eligibility for uninsured children. It is
a direct affront to recent efforts by both the states and Congress to
expand the program's reach.
Many states, including New York and
California, have been moving towards expanding eligibility requirements
for the program to children whose parents earn 2 to 4 times the federal
poverty level of $20,650, but whose employers do not offer health
coverage. The move has drawn criticism from President Bush, who fears
that the program will become a substitute for private insurance.
In
February, Mr. Bush proposed tightening limits on family income.
However, both Houses of Congress rejected the idea recently. They
passed measures expanding funding and leaving it up to states to set
eligibility requirements, which the President has promised to veto.
Then,
in a letter sent to state health officials Friday night, Dennis G.
Smith, the director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State
Operations, announced new regulations for states considering an
expansion of coverage that will require children to be uninsured for at
least one year prior to enrollment and force states to reach 95% of the
families earning under $41,300 before expanding eligibility. It is a
rate that no state has yet been able to reach.
In
an interview with the Times, Mr. Smith said: "The program was always
meant for children in lower-income families. As states move higher up
the income scale, it's more likely to substitute for private coverage."
However, Ann Clemency Kohler,
deputy commissioner of human services in New Jersey, told the New York
Times: "We are horrified at the new federal policy. It will cause havoc
with our program and could jeopardize coverage for thousands of
children."
SCHIP was created
by Congress in 1997 as a means of insuring children whose families
earned too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford
insurance on their own. It serves about 6.6 million children annually,
but is set to expire at the end of September unless the administration
signs a re-authorization bill.
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