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February 25, 2008 February 18, 2008 February 18, 2008 october 18, 2007 How to Insure Kids (Once the Shouting Dies Down) By Michael Franc, The Heritage Foundation, RealClearPolitics, 10/18/07
october 3, 2007 President Vetos SCHIP Today President Bush followed through on his promise to veto the $35 billion dollar expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program. In a Message to the U.S. House of Representatives, Bush cited that the expansion "would move health care in this country in the wrong direction...(as) one out of every three children moving onto government coverage would be moving from private coverage" The House of Representatives would need no less than 15 additional votes to overide the President's veto. The vote is likely to come during the week of October 15th.
August, 2007 SCHIP Debate Continues The debate surrounding SCHIP reauthorizationheats up as the House and Senate pass their respective versions of the bill. The House bill, H.R. 3162, expands the program to $47 billion over five years, and is paid for with a 45 cent tobacco tax and changes to Medicare Advantage payments. On the other hand, the Senate-passed version was inserted into H.R. 976 and passed by a veto proof vote of 68 to 31. The Senate bill would spend $35 billion over five years paid for by a 61 cent tobacco tax. June, 2007 New report yeilds rising health care insurance costs eHealthInsurance released new information about the cost of health insurance in the individual market. This online broker has some of the best and most current data about premium costs, based on more than 1 million policies sold from over 160 different carriers throughout the United States. Highlights of special interest to policy makers include: --$1,776 - Average annual premium cost for an individual health insurance plan in 2006. To see the full report click here. August, 2007 Census Bureau Finds Increases in Percentage of Uninsured The Census Bureau released a report of 2006 Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States. Findings show that the percentage of uninsured increased from 44.8 million in 2005, to 47.0 million in 2006. The number of uninsured children also rose from 8.0 million in 2005 to 8.7 million in 2006. While percentages of people relying on public or privately purchased health coverage remained statistically unchanged in 2006, the percentage of people covered by employment-sponsored health insurance decreased from 60.2% in 2005 to 59.7% in 2006. It is likely that the decline in the percentage of people covered by employer-sponsored coverage is the result of rising health care costs across the nation. As health care costs continue to rise, small businesses are often forced to discontinue employer-sponsored coverage. Based on the report findings, it seems evident that this group must be the next to receive legislative assistance in accessing quality affordable health coverage. To see the full report please click here.
MaY, 2007 SCHIP Expires Later this Year After a decade of existence, the federal program SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) is being reviewed and reauthorized by Congress this year. This program is intended to provide health insurance for children who live in families that earned too much to be eligible for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private coverage. Both the state and federal governments fund the program. While SCHIP enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress, there are some significant issues that Congress will be examining as they consider ways to improve the program. Main challenges include: 1)Enrolling and paying for the children who are already eligible for SCHIP health insurance. 2) Helping children whose families have access to employer-provided coverage leverage SCHIP dollars to obtain family coverage through the employer. 3) Addressing disparities across the states - some states offer coverage for both children and adults up to 350% of poverty, while other states do not even provide a floor of coverage for children up to 200% of poverty. 4) Refining mission of program, ensuring that low income kids are covered first, before moving to broader populations. CAHC Members met with Becky Shipp, Minority Staff, Senate Finance Committee to provide suggestions on the best ways to improve SCHIP as a safety net for low-income children. Below are CAHC's suggestions on improving SCHIP, along with a list of other resources and information. CBO Report on SCHIP, with data regarding "crowd out" estimates of private coverage when SCHIP reaches certain income levels.
February, 2007 10 Senators warn "We Cannot Wait" for Health Reform Letter - signed by the following Senators: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-UT) Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
January, 2007 President Bush offers bold new proposals for health care. Reaction has been mixed. Learn more about what he is proposing and how it would affect you.
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