SCHIP — the State Children’s Health Insurance Program that states and the federal government pay for jointly — is in the news again, this time over whether states can offer public health insurance to more children of middle income parents.  It’s an interesting debate, as the Bush Administration decided that offering state/federal health insurance to kids in families of four that make $53,000 a year shouldn’t be allowed, unless the state is already covering 95 percent of eligible children in families of four that make $42,400 a year.  In addition, those higher-income families who drop private insurance for their children must be without insurance for one year before enrolling in SCHIP, according to the Bush policy.

Twenty-two states, including Washington, want to offer the insurance to the higher middle income kids without those limitations.  Washington wants to go a step farther, and offer the insurance to children in families making three times the federal poverty rate, or $62,000 for a family of four, by next year.  Washington is one of the states taking the federal government to court over the issue.
Today’s news, reported in the New York Times and other papers, is that the General Accounting Office determined that the Bush Administration policy violated federal law, because it was enough of a change from previous policy that Congress had to make the call.
From the outside looking in, it appears to be an attempt to prevent states from letting public insurance become the mainstay for middle America.  I suspect we’ll see a lot more on this debate of private vs. public health insurance as we approach the November elections.

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