REFORM: President Bush, Secretary Leavitt To Governors: May Need To Remove Some Children From SCHIP
February 27th, 2007
by
Jane Hiebert-White
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The governors are in town at the National Governors Association annual meeting. Yesterday President Bush met with the governors to push his proposal to change the tax code to encourage more private health care coverage [see related post from the eminent Tax Policy Center economists on what’s wrong with the president’s tax proposal and how to improve it].
The president did not specifically address the governors’ request for supplemental SCHIP funding. However, health and human services secretary Mike Leavitt did say that the administration would work with Congress to find “a short-term solution.” States are already $700 million in debt for the current fiscal year on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Reauthorization of the entire program is due in September 2007.
In the Kaiser Daily Health Report today:
Leavitt “added that states could avoid deficits through more effective management of their programs. Leavitt said that, during his time as governor of Utah, ‘when we were out of an allotment, we just discontinued enrolling people until we had room.’ In addition, Leavitt said that some states could reduce SCHIP benefits.”
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) said, ‘In the meeting with the president and Secretary Leavitt, when questions were raised about children maybe having to be removed from the program or eligible children not being able to participate, we were told that that was basically a management problem.’ Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) said that the budget proposal could result in a reduction in health insurance rates among children in the state. Douglas said that fewer than 4% of Vermont children lack health insurance, adding that ‘we don’t want to lose ground.’ California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said that additional federal funds are necessary for his $12 billion health insurance proposal. Schwarzenegger, who met with Bush privately, did not comment on whether Bush agreed to help fund the proposal (Pear, New York Times, 2/27).”
Further Reading: For more on Secretary Leavitt’s home state’s experience with SCHIP, see the recent Health Affairs articles: “Can States Stretch The Medicaid Dollar Without Passing The Buck? Lessons From Utah” and “Coping With SCHIP Enrollment Caps: Lessons From Seven States’ Experiences.”
SCHIP around the Blogosphere: A Healthy Blog comments today on Robert Pear’s New York Times article and notes the disconnect between the governors/Congress and the administration on SCHIP. At The Hill, Jeffrey Young writes this month on how SCHIP is splitting the political parties. And Eric Novack provides his take on the governors’ call for more funding over on The Health Care Blog today.
Kids’ Issue. Next week, Health Affairs is devoting its March/April 2007 journal to children’s health care issues, including SCHIP, Medicaid, and more. The issue will be available in print and online Tuesday, March 6, at http://www.healthaffairs.org/
SCHIP Briefing: Health Affairs will host a press briefing, “Ten Years of SCHIP: Where Do We Go from Here?” on March 6 to coincide with the release of the new issue. Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) will join national health policy experts Genevieve Kenney, Urban Institute, and Len Nichols, New American Foundation, and Raymond Scheppach of the National Governors Association at the National Press Club Holeman Lounge, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The briefing and issue are supported with funding from the Nemours Foundation, the California Endowment, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. To RSVP for this event, contact Erin Kerr.
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