Strickland campaign touts stalled children's health plan
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-12-10 15:23:34 | Word Count: 798
To hear Gov. Ted Strickland on the stump or in a new campaign video, you might get the impression that every uninsured child in Ohio now has access to health insurance.
That's not the case.
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An estimated 111,255 children in Ohio remain uninsured, according to a state survey earlier this year. Although most of those are eligible for but not enrolled in the tax-funded State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, 34,232 uninsured youngsters don't qualify for coverage because their family's income exceeds current guidelines.
In 2007, the General Assembly approved Strickland's plan to expand SCHIP eligibility to children in higher-income families, but the state has never funded it. Money for the expansion was earmarked in the two-year state budget approved in July, but it is to come from tobacco funds that are tied up in a lawsuit over the proper use of the money.Still, Strickland has been touting his accomplishments on health care, including sweeping claims on his campaign Web site: "He's passed legislation guaranteeing health-care access for all Ohio children, and he's working to make that happen."
A new video was added recently under the headline, "See what Governor Strickland has done to improve health care."
"Ted Strickland cares about Ohio kids," registered nurse Marlene Tucker says in the video. There's also footage of the governor standing behind two children holding a sign that reads, "Strickland is my future."
Even if his SCHIP expansion were implemented, an estimated 13,357 uninsured children still would not have health insurance, according the Ohio Family Health Survey.
Under the proposal approved in the budget, children in families earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level -- $54,930 a year for a family of three -- would qualify for coverage. Currently, eligibility for the program is capped at 200 percent of the poverty level.
The budget earmarks money for the state share of the expansion from the $258 million left over from Ohio's 1998 legal settlement with big tobacco companies, according to Angela Terez, spokeswoman for the state Department of Job and Family Services. But that funding is on hold because the state lost a lawsuit that challenged the diversion of the cash from anti-smoking efforts; the state has appealed.
If the state wins its appeal, higher-income children would become eligible for SCHIP starting Feb. 1, Terez said. The federal government pays about 70 percent of SCHIP costs; states are responsible for the rest.
"It's approved on paper, but the funding is tied to other revenue sources" that are not available, said Amy Swanson, executive director of Voices for Ohio's Children.
The state is counting on $30 million in tobacco money for SCHIP and $2.2 million for a buy-in program for children in families whose income exceeds 300 percent of the poverty level but cannot find affordable coverage because of chronic or pre-existing conditions.
Administration officials say they are confident they eventually will win the lawsuit and be able to use the tobacco funds, and that Strickland is not trying to take credit for doing more than he has on health care.
"He's out there saying, 'I fought for this, we passed this legislation, and we're now working to make it happen,' " Strickland spokeswoman Allison Kolodziej said. "He's discussing it and making sure it's part of the public discourse."
Even so, when the state tapped the tobacco-settlement dollars as the funding source for the health-care plan instead of using state tax dollars, it was clear that the tobacco money would not be available for many months, if ever. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David W. Fais signaled in February that he was inclined to block the state's attempt to divert the tobacco money for purposes other than anti-smoking programs, which was the original intent.
Fais issued his final ruling blocking the transfer in August, after the money had been included in the two-year budget anyway. The state appealed to the Franklin County Court of Appeals, where the case sits today.
Kolodziej said Strickland does not believe the opposing side in the lawsuit has strong legal standing.
As for why tobacco money that was not immediately available was tapped, rather than state tax dollars, Kolodziej said the governor and legislature felt that using the tobacco funds for health care was appropriate "in this tight budget and difficult economy."
