Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights SCHIP Editorials, Op-Eds, Letter To The Editor

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 25 Oct 2007 - 10:00 PDT

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Summaries of editorials, opinion pieces and a letter to the editor about the failed attempt by the House to override President Bush's SCHIP legislation veto appear below.

Editorials

• Daily Oklahoman: "Let's hope" that the current "impasse" over SCHIP is "just political posturing and that reasonable negotiation produces an acceptable compromise truer to SCHIP's original intent," the Daily Oklahoman writes in an editorial. The editorial suggests that one good option is a proposal introduced by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) that "would reauthorize SCHIP for five years for families at or below 200% of the federal poverty level" and would include a "$1,400 tax credit for children of families with incomes between 200% and 300% of the federal poverty level." The editorial concludes that the plan is "a good place to resume talking" in an effort to "cover most of the children Democrats targeted in their expansion" (Daily Oklahoman, 10/22).
  
  
• Evansville Courier & Press: The House's failure to override the veto "was a sorely disappointing affair, rife with demagoguery," a Courier & Press editorial states, adding that when "all the smoke clears, this nation will still need to expand this health insurance program to more children who need it." The editorial continues, "Each side has had an opportunity now to score points with their various political constituencies. It's the way the game is played." The Courier & Press concludes that the parties now should "move on" and "score some points with the kids who need the protection that health insurance can provide" (Evansville Courier & Press, 10/22).
  
  
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: By removing the House Democrats' "politics and theatrics" from the SCHIP debate, "what emerges is a failed foray into socialized medicine," according to a Tribune-Review editorial. According to the editorial, Congress' SCHIP expansion proposal "would cement the foundation for socialized health care and all its attendant ills: higher taxes, inferior care and long waits." The editorial concludes, "If the duly concerned truly want to improve the health care prognosis of the middle class," they could start "by providing tax relief to help cover the cost of private insurance premiums" and "stop hiding behind children" (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 10/21).
  

Opinion Pieces

• Jim Wooten, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "[J]ust as with the Social Security entitlement, false terms are applied" to SCHIP "and concerted campaigns are mounted to nudge families into greater and often unnecessary dependency," Journal-Constitution editorial page editor Wooten writes in his column. He concludes, "People, even the poor, who want to stand on their own should be encouraged. But, then, this program expansion is not about 'children of the working poor who can't afford health insurance.' It's about creating another Social Security entitlement, this time for health care" (Wooten, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/23).
  
  
• Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Charlotte Observer: "Public and private sectors can effectively work together," and "[w]e need to do it now, because health care has become a national crisis," McDermott writes in an Observer opinion piece, adding, "Government can provide leadership and free the private sector to provide services, innovation and efficiency." McDermott continues that under a universal health plan, the government would not "interfere with delivery of health care services by the private sector but would "provide the financial support to drive the system to achieve maximum efficiencies and lower costs" (McDermott, Charlotte Observer, 10/22).
  
  
• Morgan Wilkins, Louisville Courier-Journal: "Expanding SCHIP beyond the already targeted poor and uninsured families will encourage families who already have private health insurance to transfer over to state-sponsored health care, and the effect will be a culture of dependency; a heavier burden on taxpayers; and a large amount of power shifting from the free market into the hands of the government," Wilkins, a student at Indiana University Southeast, writes in a Courier-Journal opinion piece (Wilkins, Louisville Courier-Journal, 10/22).
  
  
• Kirk Caraway, Nevada Appeal: Insured U.S. residents will pay for children to receive health care from emergency departments "much more than if we just gave them insurance" because using EDs "for primary health care is exponentially more expensive than" health coverage, Appeal Internet editor Caraway writes in an opinion piece. Caraway asks, "Wouldn't it be smart to give" all uninsured people "health insurance to direct them to cheaper health care options?" adding, "Doesn't insuring children sound like a good place to start?" (Caraway, Nevada Appeal, 10/21).
  
  
• Linda Merrell, Orlando Sentinel: "Expanding SCHIP would be a powerful statement about the value that we as a country put on our children's health," Merrell, a consultant to the Florida Child Health Care Coalition, writes in a Sentinel opinion piece responding to an earlier piece by Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.). According to Merrell, "The fact that President Bush had proposed only $5 billion in additional funding for a program that provides health insurance to America's poorest children reflects how shamefully misguided his priorities are" (Merrell, Orlando Sentinel, 10/21).
  
  
• John Porter, Portland Press Herald: "Health care in this country has grown absurdly expensive, and part of the solution is getting a handle on those costs," editorial page editor Porter writes in the Press Herald, adding, "But realistically, we're not going to drive health care costs down to the point where it's rational to have all but the poor pay their own way." According to Porter, "SCHIP for the middle class and other ideas for subsidizing coverage in a rational way have to be part of any plan to provide each of us with affordable health care." He concludes, "Conservatives may not like that, but the math simply does not favor their point of view" (Porter, Portland Press Herald, 10/21).
  
  
• David Limbaugh, Washington Times: Solving the problems with SCHIP "is not as simple as merely throwing money at the problem," nationally syndicated columnist Limbaugh writes in a Times opinion piece. He continues that "the Democrats' plan goes far beyond providing a safety net to the needy." Limbaugh writes, "Why can't congressional Democrats just admit they have a soft spot for socialism: that they believe capitalism results in too much economic disparity and that government ... should redistribute wealth to suit their ideas of fairness?" He adds, "Never mind that a command-control economy results in a smaller economic pie. What matters is they care, and by gosh, they're willing to forcibly transfer other people's money to prove it" (Limbaugh, Washington Times, 10/23).
  

Letter to the Editor

• Vincent DeMarco, Baltimore Sun: The "61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tobacco tax" would have "deterred many children across the country from becoming addicted to tobacco and raised enough money to provide health care for four million children," DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative writes in a Sun letter to the editor. He adds, "It is laughable" for those opposed to the reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP to suggest that it "would lead to government-run medicine when the program is limited to lower- and moderate-income children." He concludes that uninsured children often "end up getting emergency and other urgent care at hospitals at public expense," and it "makes much more sense" to cover those children "through a program such as SCHIP than to leave them to emergency care" (DeMarco, Baltimore Sun, 10/23).
  

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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