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July 26, 2007
S-CHIP And Funding
Because I've seen some confusion over this point, the fight over S-CHIP funding is not a fight over a new program, or even substantial changes to an old program. S-CHIP is currently extended to about 5 million fewer uninsured children than qualify for the program. The reason, basically, is that S-CHIP is administered by granting a fixed pot of money to states, who must then figure out how many kids they can insure. During bad financial times, they put down enrollment caps, create waiting lines, change eligibility rules, or just plain don't tell anyone about it. During good times, they increase outreach, take down the waiting lines, etc. But currently, the program isn't funded with anything near the amount of money it would require to fully cover the targeted population. So the states ensure that not all of the target population signs up, either by keeping the program's existence quiet or proactively limiting enrollment.
July 26, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
thanks, that clears up my question.
Posted by: Andrew | Jul 26, 2007 6:42:43 PM
Georgia's Peachcare program is a prime example. They stopped enrollment, and as soon as additional monies were passed for SCHIP in the war supplemental, whammo! They started bringing kids in.
My mom was shocked by this last night. She said "but how is it fair to give it to one kid, but tell another kid who's in exactly the same situation that he can't have it? How is that not against the law?"
Posted by: anonymous | Jul 26, 2007 11:08:22 PM
Sigh. You are right, anonymous. SCHIP has the advantage of being "health care for kids" (hard, though far from impossible to oppose) but not all the advantages Medicaid had before it was massacred by the Deficit Reduction Act -- no enrollment caps (thank God, still something we can count on in Medicaid) and clear benefits and cost standards.
That being said, because it's an important public health insurance program, and for all the political reasons Ezra has written about, we've got to push for SCHIP's reauthorization at full funding.
BTW, I don't know what Republican I heard saying that cutting overpayments to the Medicare Advantage carriers was pitting seniors against kids, but boy is that cynical. The DRA, Republican legislation, got rid of one of Medicaid's best protections -- that you can't give disabled people one benefit package and kids another -- so in their quest to destroy and erode public programs they've clearly got no problem with divide and conquer.
Posted by: mutakhalef | Jul 27, 2007 10:09:58 AM
