Congress should vote to keep children's health program
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-12-22 10:24:27 | Word Count: 518
We all have dreams this holiday season. Dreams of the family gathered around a sparkling tree. Children delighted with brightly wrapped presents. A turkey roasting in the oven and pie cooling on the counter. But wouldn't it be even more magical to wake up Christmas morning knowing no child will have to suffer because their family can't afford to take them to the doctor or get their antibiotics or immunizations?
Yes, toys are nice, but health care is necessary. The best gift we can give our children this year is the security of knowing their health is a priority for us. To do that we must urge Congress to deliver on its promise to reform our health-care system in a way that provides a strong individual guarantee of affordable coverage.
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Children in Michigan and across the country have a lot at stake in health reform. The percent of Michigan children without health insurance rose nearly 32 percent from 2006 to 2007. There was a nearly 70 percent increase in loss of insurance coverage for ages 0-5.
So far, the health reform debate has focused on the role of a public option rather than other important issues, like how we ensure that children aren't worse off as a result of reform.
Although the House bill has many strong provisions supporting children and families, it calls for the abolishment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program in 2013. It would be replaced by a far more expensive new health-insurance Exchange, largely driven by insurance companies. We cannot allow this to happen.
SCHIP, known as MIChild in Michigan, has been critical to providing coverage for the children of working poor - families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance. SCHIP has sharply reduced the number of uninsured children.
A recent study from national children's advocacy group First Focus revealed SCHIP is significantly better than any health reform proposal pending in Congress. The Congressional Budget Office concluded that maintaining SCHIP would be roughly $15 billion cheaper than eliminating the program and moving the children into the new health exchange.
The Senate version maintains SCHIP through 2019. An amendment from Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., would provide the needed funding and requires a report in 2016 to determine how children will fare in the exchange and what changes would be needed for children to have comparable, if not better, coverage before moving kids from a proven program into an untested system. This is the best option.
There are 160,000 children in Michigan without insurance. Reform must include coverage for these children and ensure children currently covered continue their coverage. And it cannot allow children to be worse off tomorrow than they are today.
