Congress in SCHIP Rescue Bid

The hugely popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has been facing a resource crunch of late. SCHIP is a funded organization set up to ensure children from poor families who do not have access to the healthcare programs as other children.

However, funding allotment levels for the program were set way back in 1997, and are gradually shrinking. As a result of the shrinkage, SCHIP has been unable to meet the needs of insurance requirements of many states.

For SCHIP to continue and expand on its success, Congress would have to reauthorize the program. Not only that, it would also have to provide additional financial support to the program for the next five years. Realizing the positive impact of SCHIP, Congress has moved swiftly to ensure the program stays on and continues to be successful.

In a move to provide aid to organizations that look after the welfare of people living under the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), the Congress is set to increase SCHIP's funding by $35 billion over the next five years. The expansion would increase the total spending for SCHIP, during the course of the next five years, to $60 billion.

This additional amount would significantly provide affordable and comprehensive health coverage for children. Some states already have federal approval, and provide insurance cover to a limited number of adults and middle-income children as well under the program. The funding would enable SCHIP to spread its reach to another 3.3 million children, besides the 6.6 million that it is already covering.

SCHIP's implementation dates back to 1992 when a state program in Pennsylvania was started under then-Gov. Robert Casey. The program has since been upgraded in that state. Now, children of Pennsylvania families who earn up to approximately 300% of the FPL are eligible for coverage. Families who earned more than this designated sum could avail SCHIP at an average monthly premium of $150.

While the move has been welcomed by senate members across party affiliations, objections have come from the Bush administration. Others who have voiced the same concerns include those people involved in policy research. Both Democrats and Republicans alike have taken exception to the objections.

While Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, urged the President to help the children instead of playing politics, Iowa’s Republican senator Chuck Grassley said the proposal had the support of both Republicans as well as Democrats, and hoped the administration supported it too.