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The moral imperative of children's health care

August 14, 2007|Ben Chandler

Like many of you, I can honestly say that the proudest moments of my life have been the births of my three children. Even 14 years later, those moments are still vivid in my memory. Also vivid is the natural instinct to protect and nurture my children that I felt from the first moment I held them. Indeed, life experience and biology teach us that protecting our offspring is the most natural and fundamental aspect of being alive. It is the greatest responsibility that parents have to their children, and is indicative of what our society values as a whole.

It is with this thought in mind that the House of Representatives reauthorized the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) under the Children's Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act, which passed earlier this month.

SCHIP was created to significantly reduce the number of uninsured children-in particular, children in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but unable to purchase private health insurance. This bill undertakes the noble pursuit of expanding coverage to 6 million more eligible yet uninsured children nationwide. With this new law, Kentucky will be able to insure nearly 130,000 children over the next five years.

SCHIP works by providing matching funds to states, which then establish basic health insurance for children. Kentucky's General Assembly first approved this program in 1998, and by 2003, over 50,000 children that had previously been uninsured had health insurance. With this new federal law, Kentucky will now have additional funds to expand SCHIP and provide more coverage for children from low to moderate income families. I can think of few better purposes of government than to protect this most precious resource-our own children.

The president did propose a small increase in SCHIP; however, due to increased medical costs, it would have failed to even continue coverage of children currently insured under this program. In contrast, the House version of this bill would add $47.8 billion to SCHIP over the next five years, helping states identify and enroll millions more kids.

I am pleased that this bipartisan bill complies with the pay-as-you-go principle, which requires that all new direct government spending must be saved elsewhere. To offset the costs of this bill, an increase in the federal tobacco tax will generate $32.4 billion nationwide. Additionally, Congress is going to eliminate $50 billion in overpayments made to private insurance companies through the Medicare Advantage program - at no cost to Medicare beneficiaries. Sadly, the president has threatened to veto this bill, despite its many benefits.

Insuring our nation's children is more than just making sure that they have their yearly physicals and immunizations - it is an investment in their future as productive citizens in our society and an investment in reducing future medical costs that could have been prevented.

Undoubtedly, allowing children to go without health insurance is the most expensive way to care for their health.

After carefully reviewing this piece of legislation, I voted for its passage with a clear understanding that this measure will greatly strengthen the health, long-term savings, and moral conscience of our nation.

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