Opinion
Wed Oct 17, 12:22 AM ET
Defending his veto of a plan to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), one of President Bush's most effective lines has been that the measure would extend benefits to families earning as much as $83,000 a year.
That makes a program designed for low-income kids sound like another outrageous Washington boondoggle.
But with the House planning to vote Thursday on overriding the president's veto — SCHIP supporters need to pick up about two dozen votes — it's worth pointing out that Bush's claim is misleading at best, simply wrong at worst.
For one thing, New York is the only state that has asked for federal permission to grant SCHIP coverage to some families that make up to four times the national poverty level ($20,650 for a family of four). No other state has SCHIP coverage that high, and nothing in the bill mandates it. So the $83,000 question isn't even relevant for now in the other 49 states.
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Considering the average $12,000-a-year cost of private health insurance for a family of four, it doesn't seem so crazy that New York asked the administration for permission to grant SCHIP coverage to some families in high-cost areas that make up to 400% of poverty, double the typical SCHIP cap.
In any event, the administration exercised its authority in September and turned New York down. So how can the president keep insisting the bill would cover families earning almost $83,000?
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