An Examination Of SCHIP Expansion

Statement

By Congressman Bill Cassidy

Health Care Journal of Baton Rouge

Since my election to Congress, people have told me how slow and tedious the process in Washington can be. Therefore, it came as a bit of a surprise when, during my first week, I was delivered all 283 pages of the House Resolution 2, better known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Expansion Bill, along with a note from my scheduler that we would vote on final passage the next day!

This sort of "midnight drop" is designed to impede and discourage anyone from actually examining the legislation we are to vote on. I wondered why the Democrats would do so since the original legislation was passed on a bipartisan basis and 2 years earlier, Republicans and Democrats worked to expand the program.

As my family is staying in Baton Rouge and having nothing else to do, I stayed up late and read the 282 pages. As I read, I realized why the bill's sponsors worked to prevent a careful and thoughtful assessment of the bill. This legislation takes a good and reasonable program and sends it down an unsustainable path of increased growth, spending, and potential for fraud and abuse.

In Louisiana, SCHIP is called LaCHIP and is a program similar to Medicaid where the Federal Government puts up approximately 80% of the money and Louisiana puts up 20%. In Louisiana, the LaCHIP program which covers all children from families up to 250% of the Federal Poverty Level, provides health coverage to over 640,000 Louisiana children.

Even in these tough economic times, when federal, state, and local governments are all under immense pressure to "tighten their belts" and cut back on spending, I believe a well run and administered LaCHIP/SCHIP program is an important part of our country's obligation to care and provide for children and others who can't help themselves. Individual states are given great flexibility to adjust this eligibility level to suit their own needs and budgetary constraints. This is an important aspect that I wish we could see more of in other federal programs that are administered at the state level.

As a physician who works primarily with the under and non-insured, I have seen the benefits of the LaCHIP/SCHIP program for working American families whose income is too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford quality health insurance. I firmly believe that until we can find ways to lower costs and make private insurance affordable and available to all, the LaCHIP/SCHIP program is essential to ensure that the most vulnerable among us, our children, have access to the health care they need and deserve.

While H.R. 2, the LaCHIP/SCHIP Expansion Bill, has been marketed to the American people solely as a way to help more children, the actual text of the bill reveals that this is not the whole story. Buried within the text of the bill are provisions that essentially eliminate the ability of plan administrators to verify requirements for LaCHIP/SCHIP, such as proof of income and assets. It also includes in this Children's Health Insurance Program, childless adults. In some states, this program for the indigent, includes families earning more than $85,000 a year.

There is nothing more discouraging and damaging to the credibility and sustainability of a program built on good will than people who inappropriately exploit that good will. The elimination of these safeguards will ensure front page stories and YouTube clips of those who cheat the system. Leaving the safeguards protects the integrity of the LaCHIP/SCHIP program and saves tax payers' hard-earned money. I know from the history of the Louisiana Medicaid System and from working in the Louisiana Charity Hospital System that inevitably, there will be cost over-runs and underfunding which will cause patient care to suffer.

I came to Washington, DC to use my background and experience in healthcare to work with Republicans and Democrats to create solutions. However, in this case, my background tells me that this solution will create problems.

President Obama says that he wants bipartisan support for his healthcare proposals. I look forward to working with his administration on these issues.

Source