An Actual Plan For Poor Children's Health Care

As the Democrats gear up for an attempt at overriding President Bush's veto on the SCHIP bill Thursday, the Republicans are actually trying to create a bill that would provide health care for needy children.

Several House Reps are planning a press conference to present their bill based on a Heritage Foundation proposal. It would include three main points:

1) A full reauthorization of SCHIP. The program would continue to cover children in families with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level

2) A child health care tax credit. Rather than putting more people on a government-run program, the legislation advances tax credits to families with incomes between 200% and 300% of the poverty level

3) A health care “federalism” initiative. This piece would complement both the reauthorization and the tax changes in expanding health care coverage, and would encourage even more dramatic health care experimentation at the state level with different approaches to coverage expansion

This plan was in the works before the SCHIP veto occurred, but the Democrats have been so intent on implementing universal health care that they haven't paid attention to this legitimate Republican bill that would actually provide health care coverage for poor children.

It's too bad that the Democrats are more interested in playing partisan politics than in actually advocating 'for the children'.

Call and e-mail your Reps Thursday morning - it will likely be your last chance to weigh in against the SCHIP bill before the vote occurs. Suggest that this new bill might be worth looking at.

There's my two cents.