subject: Work on cost savings, but not at kids' expense [print this page] Headlines abound about the political maneuvering over health care reform in the House and Senate. We have heard plenty about a public option, a cadillac tax and the effect on senior citizens. But one important aspect of the debate has been overlooked: What about the kids? The State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, has been one of the few true health outreach successes over the years. It's a program, with the states and the federal government splitting costs, that offers health insurance to children whose families make too much for Medicaid but not enough to buy insurance on their own.
Under the proposal passed by the House, SCHIP would disappear. The children in need would get a subsidy to buy coverage in one of the health insurance exchanges that the government would set up. That sounds good, but we're talking about children here. No one knows how well these exchanges will work or what they will cost. Presently, SCHIP limits the insurance cost to 5 percent of the family's income. Delaware's program requires families to pay $10 to $25 per month depending on income level. But where that would be a hardship, even that cost is often waived.
Supporters of the current system wonder whether children will stay enrolled in the exchanges if the premium costs go higher. There are too many unknowns involved. The insurance exchange is an experiment that should be tried, but not at the kids' expense.
Rep. Bob Casey, D-Pa., with support from the Children Defense Fund, proposes letting SCHIP remain as it is until 2019.
Sen. Casey also proposes expanding SCHIP eligibility to 250 percent of the federal poverty level to widen the health care safety net for all children. The University of Delaware estimates that approximately 2,500 Delaware children with family incomes are between 200 percent of federal poverty level (the current SCHIP criteria). Adding 50 percent more Delawareans requires $2 million in additional state funding. Sen. Casey wants the federal government to eat 88-94 percent of the costs. With trillion-dollar federal deficits projected for the near, rather than distant, future, this, too, is an idea better suited for 2019.
Still, the Casey amendment provides reasonable guidance for getting children's health care right in the present reform frenzy.
Work on cost savings, but not at kids' expense
By: Rick Lewis
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