The Paris News- Legislators Work on Health Care Program

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The Paris News- Legislators Work on Health Care Program

Mary Madewell

Both U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Rockwall, and U.S. Senator John Cornyn say they look forward to working out compromise legislation on the federal health care program that provides coverage for low income children.

Texas' senior senator, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, voted for SCHIPS legislation that President George. W. Bush vetoed last week. She joined a number of Republican senators in a 67-29 vote, short the two thirds number necessary to override a presidential veto.

The tally in the House, 265 to 159 indicates the president has enough backers, including Hall of Texas District 4, to uphold a veto unless political pressure changes the mind of a substantial number of lawmakers.

That won't be the case for Hall, according to a telephone interview late last week.

"I support the president's veto of this bill, and I support efforts to extend the current program until we reach bipartisan agreement on improving this vital program."

Hall said he is in "a difficult situation."

"I have a hard time voting against children unless I think I can vote a better vote down the line," Hall said. "I believe we are going to get another shot at it."

Hall called SCHIP legislation that reached the president's desk "overkill."

"It almost assured that all new enrollees in the program would be illegal immigrants because in some states all they have to do is show up with a driver's license," Hall said.

He said all states do not have the same guidelines as Texas and under the vetoed legislation, some monies earmarked for Texas would wind up supporting families in other states.

"I voted against the bill not because I do not support expanding health care coverage for our nation's poor children but because this bill goes far beyond its original and noble goal."

Hall expressed concern that the legislation as written would allow families with insurance to switch their children to SCHIPS.

"If a family can afford private coverage, they do not need to switch over to government coverage," Hall said.

Hall said H.R. 976, the SCHIPS reauthorization bill, would give advantage to states such as New York through a grandfather clause to allow for enrollment at over 400 percent of the poverty level.

Texas restricts coverage to families with incomes not to exceed 200 percent of poverty level.

"If a family is making over 400 percent of the poverty level ($82,500 a year) they should be able to pay for their own health insurance, not taxpayers from Texas."

President Bush in his Saturday radio address called for bipartisan compromise and said he is willing to spend more money on SCHIP than he first indicated.

"If putting poor children first takes a little more than the 20 percent increase I have proposed in my budget for SCHIP, I am willing to work with leaders in Congress to find the additional money," the president said.

But he continued his overall attacks on the bill, calling it "deeply flawed" and "an incremental step toward (the Democrats') goal of government-run health care for every American."

SCHIP, which is a federal-state partnership, subsidizes the cost of insuring children in families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance.

Congressional Democratic leaders say votes to override the president's veto will be held in mid-October, although the effort is expected to fail.

In the meantime, Texas' junior senator announced plans Friday to co-sponsor a Kids First bill to provide "a responsible $10 billion expansion" of the program to $35 billion over five years, enrolling an additional 1.3 million children. The Democratic version called for a $60 billion expansion.

Cornyn said the Kids First plan would finance a 50 percent expansion of the Texas SCHIP program, fully funding program projections set by the Texas Legislature.

"It directly confronts a central problem facing Texas," Cornyn said. "Approximately 700,000 Texas children are currently eligible but not enrolled in either SCHIP or Medicaid. Kids First addresses this central problem by proving $700 million for outreach and enrollment," Cornyn said. "The Democrat plan contains only a token $100 million over five years for 50 states."

The vetoed legislation, Cornyn said, "penalizes states such as Texas that adhere to the original intent of the program.

"It does this by raising taxes (cigarette) disproportionately on lower-income individuals and sending Texas taxpayer money to northern states," Cornyn charged.

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