New York Gov. Spitzer Would Consider Suing Federal Health Officials If State’s SCHIP Waiver Is Not Granted
August 31, 2007 – 12:57 pm | posted in MedicareNew York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) on Monday said if CMS does not approve the state’s plan to expand SCHIP, he would consider suing federal health officials over new standards announced last week that aim to limit SCHIP enrollment to the lowest-income children, the New York Times reports (Confessore, New York Times, 8/28). Under the new standards, states must demonstrate that they have “enrolled at least 95% of children in the state below 200% of the federal poverty level” who are eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP before expanding eligibility to children in families with incomes greater than 250% of the poverty level, according to a letter sent Aug. 17 to state officials by Dennis Smith, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/22).
The guidelines would make it “effectively impossible” for Spitzer to make health care universal for all children in the state, “one of his priorities,” according to the Times (New York Times, 8/28). Spitzer has sought federal approval to expand SCHIP eligibility in the state to children in families with annual incomes less than 400% of the poverty level.
Expanding eligibility to that level effectively would cover all children in the state and would give New York the highest SCHIP income ceiling in the nation. The state enrolls about 88% of children eligible in families with annual incomes less than 200% of the poverty level, falling short of the new guidelines and leaving about 60,000 children ineligible for SCHIP under the new rules (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/22).
Lawsuit Grounds
If federal officials “come back to us and refuse to budge from the positions they’ve taken, then we will sue,” Spitzer said (New York Times, 8/28). The state would sue on the ground that the rules contradict the provisions of the federal law, adding that they were imposed without the proper notice or comment period required by federal law, according to Spitzer (Osburn, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 8/28). He said that the state “will not stand idly by when tens of thousands of New York state kids cannot get the health insurance they deserve” (New York Times, 8/28).
Spitzer in a statement said, “We are calling on President Bush to abolish these troublesome roadblocks to insuring our nation’s children” (Bloomberg/Long Island Newsday, 8/28). He added, “The President should invest in the health of America’s children and allow states like New York, and nearly 20 others, to implement programs that will help ensure that more and more children receive the healthy beginning they deserve” (Crowley, Albany Times Union, 8/28).
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said SCHIP reauthorization and expansion legislation to be considered next month in conference committee likely will include a provision overriding the new guidelines (New York Times, 8/28).
Spitzer Opinion Piece
To deny coverage to the 400,000 uninsured children in the state of New York is “not only morally wrong, it is profoundly bad public policy,” Spitzer writes in a New York Daily News opinion piece. However, “as bleak as this picture is, it’s not too late to undo the damage — if we act now,” Spitzer continues. He writes, “All of us must pressure the Bush administration to roll back its destructive changes to SCHIP, allowing us to move forward with insuring all children,” and “if the administration fails to act, Congress must.”
According to Spitzer, if Democrats and Republicans “come together in Washington, they can form a veto-proof majority and legislate the President’s disastrous changes into history’s dustbin.” If the guidelines are not overridden, then millions of children across the U.S. “will continue to rely on the oldest and most precarious health insurance policy of all: waking up every morning and hoping and praying you don’t get sick” (Spitzer, New York Daily News, 8/28).
Other Efforts
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) said he plans to introduce legislation this fall that would allow states to expand SCHIP eligibility without a federal waiver, the Hartford Courant reports. “By demanding that states meet unreasonably high requirements to qualify for federal approval, [Bush] is essentially denying health insurance to some of those who need it most — our kids,” Dodd said. Dodd and Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) said that the new guidelines could result in one-fifth of beneficiaries of HUSKY B, the state’s SCHIP, losing coverage (Proctor/Poitras, Hartford Courant, 8/28).
Meanwhile, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has written Bush requesting that he rescind the new guidelines, calling them “deeply troubling” and “drastic,” the Manchester Union Leader reports. The rule change will cause 2,000 children in New Hampshire to lose SCHIP coverage and will make it difficult for the state to reach its goal of enrolling an additional 10,000 eligible children over the next three years, Lynch said (Fahey, Manchester Union Leader, 8/28).
Opinion Piece, Editorials
* Charlotte Observer: “If the president vetoes legislation” to reauthorize and expand SCHIP, states “will have to scramble to find money to help those enrolled and scrap plans to help other children,” which would create a situation that “invites child neglect and boosts the chances that serious health problems will go untreated,” according to an Observer editorial. The editorial concludes, “Vulnerable children should not be political footballs, Mr. President. The American people understand that. It’s time you did, too” (Charlotte Observer, 8/27).
* Dayton Daily News: The debate over the income eligibility threshold for SCHIP “vividly shows that the country can’t keep running from the problem of having so many uninsured,” according to a Daily News editorial. “Children can’t become pawns in a fight about how broadly the government is going to expand subsidized health care coverage. The goal has to be covering as many kids as possible — because they’re kids,” the editorial continues. It concludes that an income threshold of 300% of the poverty level “is affordable” (Dayton Daily News, 8/27).
* Foster’s Daily Democrat: “Instead of being chastised, administration officials should be lauded for efforts to help the truly needy rather than let Congress stampede past those who remain fallen through the cracks,” according to a Daily Democrat editorial. It continues, “The Bush administration has drawn a line in the sand — and very appropriately so — between responsible and irresponsible use of federal tax dollars.” The editorial concludes, “If there is going to be a debate about universal health care and expanding government bureaucracy, it needs to stand on its own two legs — not be snuck in the back door like a congressional earmark” (Foster’s Daily Democrat, 8/26).
* Bob Herbert, New York Times: “The reality is that under the administration’s approach” to SCHIP “enormous numbers of children in families without a lot of money will be left with no coverage at all, private or otherwise,” which is “cruel,” columnist Herbert writes in a Times opinion piece. Herbert continues, “Children who should be eligible for [S]CHIP are being held hostage to policies driven by a desire to protect the big insurance companies and an ideology that views [S]CHIP, correctly, as yet another important step on the road to universal health care” (Herbert, New York Times, 8/28).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
You must be logged in to post a comment.