Bush Administration Should Rescind SCHIP Directive That Restricts Enrollment Expansions, Editorial States

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 28 Apr 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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"The Bush administration is determined to frustrate state efforts to provide health insurance to middle-income children despite analyses judging its tactics as illegal and unenforceable," a New York Times editorial states. The administration in August 2007 issued a policy directive that restricts states from expanding SCHIP coverage to children in families with incomes greater than 250% of the federal poverty level until they can prove that 95% of eligible children in families with incomes lower than 200% of the poverty level are covered. The Times writes that the "Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service have rendered opinions that the August directive was not a mere clarification of existing requirements, as the White House has contended, but a new rule that should have first been submitted to Congress for review."

The Times notes that several states have filed lawsuits challenging the directive, adding, "The administration ought to rescind its indefensible rule and not waste time and money defending it in court." The Times concludes, "Everyone agrees that SCHIP should focus on low-income children, but states should be able to raise income limits under reasonable -- not draconian -- ground rules." According to the Times, the Bush administration's "intransigence makes it likely that an impasse that pits many states ... against the federal government will have to be resolved by the next president and Congress" (New York Times, 4/25).

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