Thanks to the fortitude of those republicans, and two democrats, who refused to be strong-armed by the “For the Children” chorus, The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday not to override President Bush’s veto of H.R. 3162 that would have expanded coverage of the Child Health Insurance Program which provides federal money to the states to fund health care coverage for children of low-income families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.
The plans for expansion would add approximately 3.8 million additional children to the program bringing the total to 10 million. The expansion would result primarily from raising the maximum allowable family income for recipients to four hundred percent of the poverty level, or $82,600 per year. Does this sound like low income?
The bill, which calls for an increase of $35 billion to bring projected costs to almost $60 billion over the next five years, has a number of other defects which its supporters gloss over. Moreover, this bill clearly goes way beyond the program’s original intent of helping low income children access health care and is clearly part of a pattern for expanding government control over health care.
It is important for all of us to realize that the health care issue will be a featured part of the current presidential campaign. It will be important for all to look beyond the rhetoric to the facts behind the proposals.
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Congratulations to Jim Ogonowski and the great effort he made in the special election for the Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District . Jim garnered forty five percent of the vote, placing second to winner, Nicki Tsongas who registered fifty one percent. These impressive results, running against a candidate with a highly recognizable name and in a heavily Democratic district shows the potential of getting out the message. Well done, Jim.
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