Our Washington legislators have recently reauthorized the SCHIP bill (State Children's Health Insurance Program) but with different recommendations than in the past bill. I acknowledge that SCHIP has been a good health safety net for children and has, consequently, saved our country money as has helped produce healthy adults.
However, this bill will massively expand this program to cover 71 percent of children in our country and be very costly. This proposal increases the SCHIP eligibility level to 400 percent of the federal poverty line - allowing families with income as high as $82,000 annually to qualify. This is crazy. Few people in North Dakota would consider that amount a "poverty" level and many of those who do make that amount are covered by their employers.
Furthermore, this will expand the power of government in all healthcare decision making and many with private insurance may switch to SCHIP (why not?) thus crowding out private insurance and raising the price for all. What taxes will be raised to pay for this?
Then what's next? - taking over senior insurance? We do not want the "Canadian-style health system" - wait and wait for care. I'm surely for helping children (born and unborn) but this legislation goes too far. This bill will no longer cover unborn children as it did formerly - another dismaying thing.
