A Positive Start on the Long Road to Universal Health Care

By: Suma Kallurkar, CIS Compliance Specialist
sumakallurkar@cis-partners.com

As President-Elect Barack Obama prepares to officially become President today, there is no doubt that he faces numerous challenges ahead. However, he can feel positive about the fact that the House of Representatives has passed a bill impacting one of his key agenda items – health care. On Wednesday, January 15, the House passed a children’s health care bill, which will provide an additional 4 million children with government sponsored health care coverage.

The program being expanded is the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which was initiated during President Clinton’s administration and provides health care coverage to children at or below the poverty level who do not meet eligibility for Medicaid. Currently approximately 7 million children are covered under the program. The new House bill extends coverage to an additional 4 million children of working families, who previously did not meet the eligibility requirements. This expansion of SCHIP is estimated to cost $33 billion over a timeline of approximately 4 years. The bill calls for an increase in the federal cigarette tax ($0.61 per pack) to pay for the expansion of the program.

The Senate has begun reviewing its own version of the bill, estimated to cost less than the House bill at $31.5 billion over the same timeline. One of the key differences is coverage for children of recent legal immigrants. Under the House bill, recent legal immigrants may be accepted into the program rather than waiting the currently mandated 5-year period. The Senate version does not provide for this, but such a provision may be added as the bill progresses.

The House bill, while passed by a 289-139 vote, faced significant opposition from Republicans. Among the concerns expressed are the inclusion of immigrants, the expansion of government-run health care, and the inadequacy in addressing the problems inherent in the Medicaid system. Nevertheless, the passing of the House bill provides reassurance and hope to many Americans as struggling states cut their Medicaid budgets. While still a long way from Obama’s ultimate goal of universal health care coverage, the passing of the bill can be viewed as a start in the right direction.


References:

House Bill H.R.2

The Washington Post

The Wall Street Journal