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The Betrayal of Trust for California's Children on Health Care

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Susan Brink at the LA Times has a lengthy overview of the SCHIP children's coverage crisis, from the point of view of one middle-class family that isn't eligible for children's coverage now, but their kids would be covered under the reform proposals by Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislative leadership, if the federal government gets around to funding the program.

More on the political side, there's an important article by Zachery Coile at the San Francisco Chronicle describing the awful choices that California has with regard to the SCHIP discussion: without a resolution in DC, California is on the brink of disenrolling hundreds of thousands of children from the current program.

As I point out in the article, this goes beyond the awfulness of denying children coverage for their check-ups and emergencies... this undoes ten years of outreach and enrollment efforts to build the program up to this point. This is a betrayal of trust... the whole point of insurance is to provide security, and that security is gone when you yank the insurance away. When the funds eventually come in, will we find those kids again? Why wouldn't those families be skeptical?

The only good news is that I think that this problem has a defined end date.

There's a good possibility that a deal could be worked out in the next few months between the President and Congress that provides the needed funds for SCHIP, especially if there's enough heat on the President, Republicans running for re-election, especially 15-or-so Republican Representatives that would provide the margin for a veto override.

In the worst case scenario, the problem goes to January 2009, with a new President. The Democratic candidates have pledged to support the Congressional policy and level of funding. Frankly, I can't imagine that a new Republican President would want to start his new term with a fight over children's coverage (it's still hard to fathom why President Bush has instigated this issue). And the next President may not have a choice: a newly-elected Congress with different margins may be able to muster a two-thirds override itself.

There's not enough federal money to wait until January 2009. So it's a real, immediate, ugly problem... but one that has a light at the end of the tunnel.

Health Access California is a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups. This article has also been published on the Health Access Weblog.

Posted on November 26, 2007

Comments

As if it isn't enough to worry about with our own health care and the high costs of insurance for ourselves, we have to worry about whether our children are covered now too. This issue of health care is becoming more and more alarming and severe. There is something we can all do to make an impact. We can go to the site http://www.thisissoridiculous.com and sign a petition where we can make our points and voices heard. This I know because I am in support of AARP and this pressing issue of lack of health care in America.

Posted by: Gigi at November 26, 2007 02:11 PM

"Susan Brink at the LA Times has a lengthy overview of the SCHIP children's coverage crisis, from the point of view of one middle-class family that isn't eligible for children's coverage now, but their kids would be covered under the reform proposals by Governor Schwarzenegger"

I have a hard time feeling sorry for a family that CHOOSES to live on a hillside in Dana Point in a home that is worth $700,000+ in which they have several hundred thousands in equity. They also choose to have the lifestyle of a stay at home mother and they choose to have their own business that cannot fund healthcare for their family. If this is your poster child of the uninsured you are not going to generate much sympathy, this family has CHOSEN a lifestyle that is beyond their means at the expense of healthcare.

Posted by: sean at November 27, 2007 08:27 AM

Our health care system needs a complete overhaul not another political patch.

Posted by: Shawn at November 30, 2007 10:52 AM

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