Administration Moves to Eviscerate Efforts to Enroll Uninsured Low-Income Children in Health Coverage Through the Schools: Bipartisan SCHIP Bill Would Temporarily Block Such Action

Publication Date: March 2008

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Judith Solomon; Donna Cohen Ross

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Economic projections; Federal budget; Health insurance; Health care costs

Type: Report

Abstract:

While deep disagreements emerged between Congress and the Bush Administration last year in the debate over reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), all sides agreed that states should do all they can to enroll low-income children who are currently eligible for Medicaid and SCHIP. And while the Administration issued a directive to states that effectively bars states from covering children with moderate incomes (incomes above 250 percent of the poverty line), the Administration has sought to justify the directive partly by arguing that states have not done enough to enroll lower-income children