State: Bush plan would cut health care for 600,000 kids

Now, because of the veto threat, the California Governor is worried that the federal government won't take over the state's responsibilities through federal funding. He does not mention that this tax comes from the poor families to pay for this burdensome program. It is also disingenuous to say that 'denying insurance' equates to 'denying health care'. These people get free care in emergency situations no matter what. Even illegal aliens get emergency care to save their lives if needed.

If the state is going to determine that health insurance should be a requirement for poor families, why won't they demand life insurance for the parents of all the kids too? After all, we wouldn't want the kids to be a burden should something happen to their parents. Life insurance would insure the financial safety of these kids. So maybe the federal government should pay for life insurance plans for everyone too. Of course they shouldn't, but they shouldn't require coverage either unless they are in the insurance business (who they blame for the health care crisis in the first place).

Enjoy the article:

By Bill Ainsworth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 29, 2007

SACRAMENTO – President Bush has vowed to veto legislation Congress passed this week to expand children's health insurance, but his own alternative would leave 600,000 California children without coverage over the next two years, state officials said yesterday.

A presidential veto would also place one more hurdle in front of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's universal health care proposal, which counts on more federal money.

“Our state's values have moved to the place where we want to cover all our children,” said Lesley Cummings, who administers Healthy Families, which is California's version of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. “But this would move us backward.”

Schwarzenegger, who campaigned for Bush in 2004 but has since clashed with his fellow Republican, has strongly lobbied in favor of the federal legislation. This week, he spoke with Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt on behalf of the bill.

Last month, Schwarzenegger said he was puzzled by the president's opposition to expanding the federal SCHIP program.

“We all sit there and say 'Where did that come from?' ” Schwarzenegger said. “You can't go wipe out the deficit on the backs of children.”

The legislation, passed with bipartisan majorities in the Senate and House, would expand the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program, which aims to cover children of the working poor by adding $35 billion over the next five years. The extra money, which would be paid for by a 61-cent per pack increase in tobacco taxes, would cover 4 million of the estimated 9 million uninsured children in the United States.

The program currently covers more than 6 million children from families that cannot afford health insurance but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

Bush is proposing $5 billion in new spending for the program while reducing the number of eligible children.