Jay won't support health bill if it dissolves CHIP
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-12-25 10:56:30 | Word Count: 581
Over the weekend, Sen. Jay Rockefeller said he couldn't support a national health-care reform package if it repealed the Children's Health Insurance Program But the West Virginia Democrat said Monday he doesn't expect that to happen.
As the health-care reform process nears final votes, the Senate bill preserves the CHIP program, but the House dissolves it, placing 14 million children -- including about 25,000 West Virginia children -- into commercial insurance programs.
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It is one of the major remaining differences between the two bills, and Rockefeller will be on the conference committee that resolves those differences.
"It's not going to happen," he said. "I don't think there's any chance that could come to pass. That would be a terrible position to be in, because there are lots of good things in this [health reform] bill."
On Friday, Rockefeller posted a statement on his Web site that says, "After such meaningful and hard-fought progress for children, repealing CHIP represents a drastic setback. It is a change that I absolutely will not support."
Congressional Quarterly reported that Rockefeller had "warned that he would oppose the overhaul if it ends the CHIP program."
"I'm glad I said that," Rockefeller said Monday. "It was a good thing to say."
He has not yet talked with the House leadership, he said, "but they know how I feel.Rockefeller is one of the original 1997 sponsors of the CHIP program, which covers a wide range of services for children through 18 years of age, including doctor and hospital visits,immunizations and prescriptions, tests and X-rays, diabetic care, and dental and vision care.
CHIP, which was expanded and reauthorized in September, is popular in both the House and Senate, he said. "I can't remember any other program in the 25 years I have been here that both houses have voted for in a 2 to 1 margin three times."
He is not sure why the House decided to dissolve CHIP and transfer millions of children in commercial programs. "I don't know what the reason was, and I don't care," he said. "It was some tactical reason. I don't want it to last."
In October, Rockefeller sponsored a last-minute amendment in the Senate Finance Committee that preserved the CHIP program in the Senate bill.
At the time, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it would cost $15 billion to dissolve CHIP and place the children in commercial plans that might not offer the same level of benefits.
Under the Senate bill, states would receive a 23 percent in CHIP funding, starting in 2014. If that version is adopted, it would mean West Virginia's CHIP program would be 100 percent federally funded.
"I expect the final [health-care reform] bill will be pretty much the Senate bill, simply because we have to get the 60 votes," Rockefeller said.
The Senate bill reauthorizes CHIP until 2015. Under the same bill, insurers will not be able to exclude children because they have pre-existing medical conditions, "and that takes effect immediately," he said. "That's a nice safety net."
