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August 01, 2007
MEASURE HAS LARGE TAX INCREASE, REDUCED BENEFITS FOR ELDERLY, AND COVERAGE FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS ?WASHINGTON, AUG. 1, 2007 - "Although I support reauthorizing SCHIP, this measure would spend well over $20 billion a year of American taxpayer's money to irresponsibly expand a children's health care program to include childless adults, families making over $80,000 a year, and illegal aliens," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala). "Even more troubling is that this legislation will disproportionately harm racial minorities and rural senior citizens by taking away funds from Medicare Advantage, a successful and lower-cost option for health care for seniors, in order for the federal government to insure adult men and women who have the ability to work and get health care from their employers." Created in 1997 under Republican leadership at a cost of $4 billion a year, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was intended to insure children whose families are low-income but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. It is a partnership between states and the federal government that leaves states with flexibility to set eligibility and otherwise run the program as they see fit. Instead of reauthorizing the program, the House today approved a massive expansion of the program through H.R. 3162. This measure would provides significant increases in federal funds to states to enable them to dramatically expand SCHIP, costing $210 billion in federal dollars over ten years. Further, combined federal and state spending will ultimately cost the American taxpayer $300 billion over ten years. Explained Stearns, "Using these new funds, a state could qualify a family of four making more than $80,000 a year to receive taxpayer subsidized, government-run healthcare under a program originally intended for low-income children. In addition, it would cut payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans by $157 billion over 10 years. These cuts will mean that over 3 million seniors will lose their current coverage under MA plans."
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