Shaheen Enthusiastic About Children’s Healthcare Expansion
Photo by Caroline Bridges
HEALTHCARE
New Hampshire Union Leader
Jillian Jorgensen
Boston University Washington News Service
January 29, 2009
WASHINGTON—The Senate was considering a bill Thursday evening that would reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which senators said would make an additional 4 million children across the country eligible for government-paid health insurance.
“That means that in New Hampshire, every eligible child could be covered,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D.-N.H., said during a conference call with reporters before the Senate vote on legislation similar to bills Congress passed twice last year but which President George W. Bush twice vetoed.
The program also would allocate money for program outreach and enrollment and for improvements in the quality of the medical and dental plans.
“I’m excited that I’m going to be able to vote for this bill,” Shaheen said.
She said that making sure all children are covered by health insurance is not only the right thing to do but the cost-effective thing as well.
“If we address health concerns when children are young it’s going to save us money down the road,” she said. “This is something that makes sense on all kinds of levels.”
The Children’s Health Insurance Program is designed to cover children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. The program is administered through the states, and each state has flexibility in deciding eligibility requirements and designing the policies it offers.
In New Hampshire, a family that earns 185 to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $17,600 for a family of three, are eligible for the program. That translates into maximum eligible income of $52,800 a year for a family of three. For larger families the maximum eligible income would be higher. Families pay a premium on a sliding scale, depending on their income.
The New Hampshire version of the program, called Healthy Kids Silver, was initiated while Shaheen was governor.
“They’re working families; they’re just not making enough to cover their kids. Or they’re people who, for one reason or another, have lost their jobs,” she said.
Republican senators, including Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader, have argued that the new program would allow states to cover children in families earning up to $88,000.
“The amendments that have been offered by Sen. McConnell and by other members this week have all been aimed at limiting the flexibility of states and limiting their ability to cover kids,” Shaheen said. “I think that’s the wrong approach.”
Republicans, including former President Bush, also have argued that the program would lead many people to drop their private health insurance in favor of the state funds.
Shaheen disagreed, saying, “Sometimes people are on the margins of being able to afford private coverage or they’re in a plan that offers very little in the way of help for whatever they need.”
The bill, which would provide the extra money by raising the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 61 cents per pack, to $1, would also remove a 5-year waiting period for children born to legal residents of the United States.
“I think it makes sense to cover children who are children of legal residents. Their parents, if they’re here legally, are paying taxes. They’re working to better the economy, and their children should be eligible,” Shaheen said.
In New Hampshire, the main problem is locating all the people eligible and helping them enroll in the program, the former governor said.
“My goal is to cover as many children who are eligible as we can find,” she said.
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