Editorials Address Issues Related To SCHIP Expansion Bill

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 03 Feb 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Summaries of two recent editorials that discussed issues related to SCHIP expansion legislation passed last week by the House and Senate appear below.

• New York Times: "Congress is moving rapidly to rectify the Bush administration's shameful refusal to expand" SCHIP with the passage of the legislation, a move that is "especially important now when so many workers are losing their jobs and health benefits," a Times editorial states. According to the editorial, the legislation "would continue coverage for an estimated seven million children already enrolled" in SCHIP and "extend coverage to another four million children who are currently uninsured." In addition, the legislation would allow states to expand SCHIP to children in families with annual incomes as high as 300% of the federal poverty level," an especially important feature where medical and insurance costs are high," the editorial states. The editorial concludes, "It is a good step toward universal health coverage through a combination of public and private plans, as proposed by President Obama," and "there is no question that it will help millions of uninsured children" (New York Times, 1/31).
  
  
• Wall Street Journal: A 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax included in the legislation to fund the expansion of SCHIP represents a "tax increase on the poor and middle class" -- the "same folks the Obama administration wants to help by raising the amount of the earned-income tax credit," a Journal editorial states. According to the Tax Foundation, no "other federal tax hurts the poor more than the cigarette tax," the editorial states. Almost all of the smokers whom the increase in the cigarette tax would affect have annual incomes less than $250,000, which is the "income below which President Obama promised would see no tax increase," according to the editorial. The editorial adds that a "61-cent cigarette tax hike is the equivalent of a 25% cut in the tax credit" proposed by Obama. "Oh, and there's another problem" -- the "number of smokers keeps falling, but health care costs keep rising," the editorial states, adding, "So paying for the biggest new health care expansion in years with a declining revenue source is a guarantee of future red ink that will increase pressure for higher income taxes too" (Wall Street Journal, 2/2).
  

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