America's Children Shouldn't Go Without Health Care—But They Almost Did!
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), established in 1997 to provide health care coverage to low-income children, nearly came to an end in 2007 after President Bush twice vetoed legislation to renew the vital health care program. In December, Congress approved a temporary extension of SCHIP at the current levels through March 2009. The bill, which Bush signed, had enough additional funding to ensure that rising costs will not force states to drop children from coverage.
The vetoed bills would have provided affordable, quality health care coverage for 10 million mostly low-income children—the 6 million who were enrolled in SCHIP and an additional 4 million children who would have been brought into coverage under the bill's new provisions. But even then, another 5 million children in this country would have been without health coverage, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Nearly for Medicaid or SCHIP, although they are not enrolled.
What's the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)?
SCHIP was designed to expand health care for uninsured children in lower-income families not eligible for Medicaid, typically those with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. States, however, were given flexibility in setting income eligibility for SCHIP, and as of 2006, 15 states had eligibility limits above 200 percent of poverty—.
Like Medicaid, SCHIP is financed by the states and the federal government. The vast majority of children covered by SCHIP are that contract with the state to provide coverage.
But the Bush administration is trying unilaterally to make fundamental changes to SCHIP that will mean many people will . Nearly half of the states will be forced to cut back coverage before August 2008 or lose federal funds.
More Children Covered Since SCHIP Enacted
Together, SCHIP and Medicaid have reduced the number and percentage of children without health care coverage even as U.S. employer-sponsored coverage declined.
When SCHIP was enacted in 1997, . Between 1998 and 2005, the number of uninsured low-income children (those in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level) dropped by 2 million and the percentage of uninsured low-income children fell by more than one-third. SCHIP and Medicaid now provide health care benefits to more than , with more than 6 million children enrolled in SCHIP at some time during 2006.
Democrats Fight to Reauthorize SCHIP
Bush's SCHIP plan not only would have shut out the 4 million additional children from coverage, but didn't include enough in funding to maintain those children already enrolled. States would have been forced to dump children from the SCHIP rolls under the Bush plan.
Many states have attempted to find new ways to provide coverage to more children, but twice last year, the Bush administration issued new rules to SCHIP and Medicaid that blocked the states' efforts.
Children's health care advocates and Democratic congressional leaders say they will continue to the fight to provide health care coverage for America's children, but it likely will take a new administration in the White House to succeed.
Check out recent AFL-CIO Now blogs on SCHIP:
Read the AFL-CIO letter to members of the U.S. House urging them to support renewal of SCHIP.
Resources for SCHIP Legislation
