Why is Bush neglecting our children?

Over the past few weeks there has been political drama over the renewal of SCHIP - the State Children's Health Insurance Program. When President Bush threatened to veto it, I thought it was just for political posturing. However, when I heard that he had indeed vetoed, I was in a state of anger and disbelief: anger, because 6.6 million children nationwide depended on this program for their health insurance; disbelief, because this was a bipartisan program that 76% of Americans supported.

Bush is already so unpopular - does he really want to make his numbers plunge lower?

SCHIP was created in 1997, aimed at providing health insurance to children whose families weren't eligible for Medicaid but couldn't afford private insurance. Unlike many critics claim, it is not "socialized medicine" - it is a partnership with the states in which federal dollars partially fund medical care which is provided by the private healthcare sector. States have the ability to tailor their programs and requirements to the needs of their residents. During the 10 years of its operation, SCHIP has cut the number of uninsured children in America by a third.

Despite this dramatic success, there are still 9 million without insurance. This is why, when SCHIP came up for renewal, Congressional Democrats and Republicans sought to expand it to cover more children. The bill that went to the President's desk would have expanded the program by $35 billion to cover an additional 3.8 million children.

Bush has argued that these additional funds will go towards subsidizing healthcare for middle class families who make up to $83,000 a year. However, this is a manipulation of statistics by the Bush Administration.

This SCHIP expansion would allow children from families up to 300% of the federal poverty level (FPL) to be eligible, instead of only those up to 200%. According to the nonpartisan Urban Institute, 70% of children covered will be from families earning less than $40,000 a year. The majority of the remaining children will be from families earning less than $62,000. The only way that children from a family earning $83,000 would be eligible is if they were from a family of 6 at 300% FPL - which is a very small proportion of the eligible population.

Bush has also argued that the expansion of SCHIP will encourage eligible people who are insured to leave their private healthcare providers. The fact is that federal law requires a child to be uninsured when they apply for SCHIP. A Congressionally-mandated study found that the majority of children applying for SCHIP had been without insurance for at least six months.

Additionally, many states have imposed waiting periods to discourage people from dropping private insurance. Under this expansion, studies show that the number of those who drop will be minimal - especially for those with low income.

The point is to provide coverage to those who otherwise cannot afford it. Private insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable to middle-class as well as low-income families. Since 2000, insurance premiums rose 76% while average wages only increased 13%. Last year average family premiums were $11,480 - 28% of the family income for those at 200% FPL, and 19% of the family income for those at 300% FPL. For those who do switch, the reason is obvious - SCHIP provides more coverage at a lower cost.

Simply continuing to fund SCHIP at the current levels is not enough, because healthcare costs have increased astronomically since 1997. The Congressional Budget Office has projected a shortfall of $12.3 to $13.4 billion over the next five years. This means that if funds aren't increased, next year 940,000 kids will be cut from the program. If nothing is done by 2012, 1.6 to 1.9 million kids will be cut.

This is unacceptable.

It is imperative that funds are appropriated to continue coverage for current enrollees, and that additional funds are given to cover more children. It is a travesty that 11.7% of children in the wealthiest country in the world do not receive basic medical care, including necessary immunizations. Not having access to healthcare has negative effects on their health and future prospects.

According to the Kaiser Institute, uninsured newborns' chances of dying are about 1.5 times higher than insured newborns. The bottom line is that if we as a nation truly value the health and well-being of our children, we need to make sure they have health insurance.