House Floor Tells All on Dems’ SCHIP Intentions (Rep. John Shadegg)

The scene on the Floor of the U.S. House after Members voted to sustain the President’s veto of the Democrats’ plan to expand S-CHIP today was bizarre. I would submit it revealed what is really going on with the S-CHIP issue. Republicans, who had prevailed by sustaining the veto, did have a reason to celebrate. They didn’t. Not a single cheer. No applause from the Republican side. But, on the other side of the aisle, Congressman Rahm Emanuel and several other Democrats applauded when the vote was over.

One would have thought if Congressman Emanuel was concerned with children’s health care, he and other Democrats would have been disappointed. Why then did they applaud? It couldn’t be that they would rather have a crass political issue to exploit! It couldn’t be that they were happy that rather than extending a program for children, they had gotten what they really wanted all along…an opportunity to demagogue the issue. After all, they would never exploit a program for children for political gain.

Unfortunately for those who want an issue, not a solution, with the delay in the vote, it turns out Americans have discovered that the Democrats’ proposal dramatically expands the program, and Americans don’t support the expansion. According to USA Today, 52% of Americans believe S-CHIP should target children in families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL).

Now that the House of Representatives has sustained the President’s veto, it is time to abandon the Democrats’ irresponsible plan to expand S-CHIP – a plan that moves 2 million children off of private insurance and allows continuing coverage for adults in a program meant for poor, uninsured children. Rather than trying to score political points, Congress should reauthorize S-CHIP at its current levels to help poor children and press forward with the ideas of providing all Americans the opportunity to obtain health insurance.

For the past decade, other Republicans and I have introduced several bills to do just that. In his State of the Union address last year, President Bush proposed giving all Americans a tax deduction to purchase health care insurance. The proposal would eliminate the unfairness in our current tax code that punishes those who do not get coverage through their employer. This is precisely the group S-CHIP was originally meant to target. Yet, the same Democrats who are attacking the President now over his S-CHIP veto declared his proposal “dead on arrival.”

I’ve proposed giving families the money they need to buy themselves health care coverage in the form of a refundable tax credit. This would be actual cash that they could spend on a health insurance plan of their own. It would allow them to purchase a plan that meets their needs as well as provides them the coverage and doctors they are comfortable with. My plan would make insurance fully portable. If they change or lose their job, they wouldn’t lose their coverage. For individuals whose employers don’t provide insurance, a refundable tax credit would provide them with the financial ability to buy their own insurance, not enroll in a government-run program.

I have also introduced a bill, the Health Care Choice Act, that would let individuals buy health insurance approved in another state, not just their own, making far more choices available, increasing competition, and lowering the cost. The President has backed this concept. This would allow people to pick a plan that covers only the services they need and want. They would not be forced to buy state-mandated coverage for services they simply don’t need. These state mandates on coverage, such as requiring insurers to cover marriage counseling and hair transplants, drive up the cost of health insurance significantly.

These pieces of legislation would not only cover the S-CHIP population but millions of others who don’t have insurance now. These ideas are focused on patient choice and don’t require any new government bureaucrats. Choice-focused plans, because they put patients in charge, will drive down cost and drive up quality. They would create no new government bureaucracy because they aren’t government administered programs like S-CHIP. There are no business mandates, no individual mandates, no penalties for noncompliance, and they don’t rely on coercion to work. People would be back in charge of their own health care.

For those who say that some people won’t take advantage of the tax break and buy insurance: these individuals can be automatically placed in a pool, and their unused tax credits or deductions can be used to fund their future uninsured care.

The result would be coverage for all Americans, with patients making the critical choices. It would mean freedom and individual responsibility, not government control, price regulation, and rationed care.

Those worried that such a plan will be too costly should look at how much Washington currently is spending to provide care to the uninsured at emergency rooms and on Medicaid Disproportionate Share Payments for uncompensated hospital care. They should also be aware that part of the cost of private insurance goes to pay for the care of the uninsured.

If we allow people to take responsibility for their own wellness and make their own choices, they will demand the best service, the lowest price, and be healthier for it. Expanding S-CHIP isn’t the answer. Helping people who can’t afford to buy health insurance is.