SCHIP: What You’ll Be Protesting

The MoveOn group is making some noise on our local scene by organizing “rapid response” demonstrations at local GOP congressional offices regarding the recent veto of the SCHIP expansion bill.

A veto override would be likely in the Senate but the House needs further bipartisan support to garner enough votes for the neccesary majority.

If you are heading out to any of these demonstrations here are some things to keep in mind from the non-partisan Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. and its study of SCHIP effectiveness over the past ten years.

One of the main concerns of opponents to the bill is the crowd-out of private insurance (switching from private employer-based insurance to a government funded program) that sees an increase in taxpayer burden with no net decrease in the number of uninsured.

Dems say this has not happened but the numbers beg to differ:

the evidence suggests that substitution of SCHIP for private coverage (crowd out) does occur, with the magnitude ranging from less than 10 percent to 56 percent, depending on how substitution is defined and measured. Since this study was completed, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the rate of substitution under SCHIP and Medicaid to be approximately 33 percent;

Proponents of SCHIP also point to children with special health care needs and minorities who would not otherwise be able to afford insurance as another talking point of the program’s success.  Well, maybe, if the child in need is white:

There is little indication, however, of changes in access to specialty care.

-snip-

Two other subgroups—children with special health care needs and children of minority race/ethnicity—were less likely to experience consistent gains. Although disparities have been reduced for children with special health care needs and those of minority race/ethnicity, substantial gaps still remain as measured by higher levels of unmet need

But, hey, if you are a middle-income caucasian adolescent you’ll be fine.

Here are some other things you are in favor of is you support the proposed SCHIP expansion:

- a cut to the SCHIP program of 65% in the year 2012

- the provision of health benefits under the Children’s program for childless adults

- the provision of benefits for families that are also paying the Alternative Minimum tax

- the enrollment of parents and children in seperate programs

- the recruitment of at least 22 million new smokers over the next 10 years to pay for the program, more if empirical data from past tobacco tax increases holds true and the number of current smokers declines

- increased health care system management by New York state, a state which already has the highest per-enrollee Medicaid burden in the nation yet one of the most ineffective service delivery systems

- the imposition of $170,000 of debt on every American child born

And you’re doing this for the kids?  You can find more in our previous SCHIP posts here and here which contain the studies behind my statements.  I challenge anyone to present logical, factual data that refutes mine and displays why the program is valuable rather than a pile of SCHIT.