What concerns me about SCHIP

The SCHIP expansion is aiming to receive a veto from President Bush. What I do like about the bill is two-fold:

1. It has a verified source of revenue; i.e., it will be funded by cigarette taxes. I certainly wish that all government programs were tightly tied to a particular source. Sure, it might make things more difficult for government bean-counters, but having extra tax money that has to be sent back to tax payers is never a bad thing.
2. Insuring uninsured children is a good thing, at least on the surface.

My biggest problem, however, is how the two are tied together. Already, poor families are able to enroll in a number of governmental programs to provide medical care for their children. As this is expanding the number of children who are receiving health care, it will be granting health care to those who are of a slightly highly socioeconomic class. The concerns comes, however, when we look at the funding as cigarette taxes are extremely regressive. What we may have happen, and what should be studied closely, is to determine if we're taxing the poor in order to give middle-class children health insurance, some of whom may be in families who can afford to obtain it themselves.

It parallels nicely with the situation here in Michigan, why are we increasing taxes on the $10 an hour Meijer cashier in order to pay a state contracted general laborer 50% more than he'd make in the private sector?

Bush to Veto Kids' Health Care
Time Magazine

(Washington) -- President Bush again called Democrats "irresponsible" on Saturday for pushing an expansion he opposes to a children's health insurance program.

"Democrats in Congress have decided to pass a bill they know will be vetoed," Bush said of the measure that draws significant bipartisan support, repeating in his weekly radio address an accusation he made earlier in the week. "Members of Congress are risking health coverage for poor children purely to make a political point."

At issue is the Children's Health Insurance Program, a state-federal program that subsidizes health coverage for low-income people, mostly children, in families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private coverage. It expires Sept. 30.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers announced a proposal Friday that would add $35 billion over five years to the program, adding 4 million people to the 6.6 million already participating. It would be financed by raising the federal cigarette tax by 61 cents to $1 per pack.

This idea is overwhelmingly supported by Congress' majority Democrats, who scheduled it for a vote Tuesday in the House. It has substantial Republican support as well.

But Bush has promised a veto, saying the measure is too costly, unacceptably raises taxes, extends government-covered insurance to children in families who can afford private coverage, and smacks of a move toward completely federalized health care. He has asked Congress to pass a simple extension of the current program while debate continues, saying it's children who will suffer if they do not.

"Our goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage - not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage," Bush said.