Children's insurance divides Colorado delegation

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Health care is on the political front burner this year, at all levels of government.

Locally, Larimer County recently struggled to revise its health insurance plan for employees, after going in the red last year with its self-insurance program. The final plan resulted in higher premiums and deductibles for most county employees, and additional costs for the county as well.

At the state level, the 208 Commission is analyzing five different health care reform proposals before taking one to the state legislature early next year.

And nationally, both houses of Congress are arguing with President Bush over reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which was due to expire Sept. 30. The 10-year-old program, administered by each state using federal funds, provides health insurance for uninsured children in families who don't qualify for Medicaid.

Compromise sought

Both the House and Senate passed SCHIP bills in August, and in late September a bipartisan committee hammered out a compromise between the two. At press time, neither house had voted on the compromise bill. The compromise called for $35 billion in additional spending on SCHIP over the next five years, the same as the original Senate version. The program expansion would be funded by an increase in the tobacco tax, amounting to 61 cents per pack of cigarettes.

The original House version would have added $50 billion to the program over five years.

Meanwhile, on Sept. 20 President Bush threatened to veto the SCHIP legislation, angering legislators on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., called the compromise bill "a critical breakthrough to provide coverage to millions of children who would otherwise go uninsured."

"I hope that the president will reconsider his priorities and his veto threat," Salazar said.

At press time, it was unclear whether there was enough support for the bill to survive a presidential veto should both houses endorse it.

Currently, more than 6 million children are covered under SCHIP. The new plan would cover about 4 million more, as well as pregnant women. It provides for both dental and mental health coverage.

The White House has pushed for a reauthorization plan that would cost $5 billion more than the current program over the next five years. However, figures from the Congressional Budget Office suggest that some children who are currently covered would have to be cut from the program under the Bush plan.

Among Colorado legislators, August votes on the SCHIP measures were split along party lines. Democrat Ken Salazar voted for the Senate measure, with Republican Wayne Allard voting against it. In the House, Democrats Diana DeGette, John Salazar, Ed Perlmutter and Mark Udall voted for the reauthorization. Republicans Marilyn Musgrave, Tom Tancredo and Doug Lamborn came down on the "nay" side.

Legislators polled

Recently, the North Forty News polled the Colorado Congressional delegation about its views on SCHIP and health care reform in general. Sens. Salazar and Allard both participated, as did Reps. DeGette and Udall. Udall is a candidate for the Senate seat that Allard will vacate in 2009. Rep. Musgrave and four other representatives did not respond to the survey.

DeGette, congresswoman from Denver, has been a staunch supporter of the SCHIP expansion. She served as the lead Democratic advocate for the reauthorization bill in the House.

Udall said he supports expanding SCHIP, adding that it is "unconscionable that working parents in this country often cannot afford to provide health care for their children."

According to Salazar, Congress has a "moral imperative to reauthorize SCHIP to provide medical care to our children." He said the program makes fiscal sense since it reduces visits to emergency rooms and promotes healthy children who thrive in school.

Allard said that, while he supports SCHIP as it currently stands, he voted against the reauthorization in August because "some of the funds that should be going to children would be taken by adults who are already covered by other programs."

When questioned about U.S. health care in general, all three Democrats who responded said the current system is "broken." They cited problems like the soaring cost of health insurance and the 46 million Americans who are uninsured. Salazar also pointed to the problem of American businesses that find it increasingly difficult to offer insurance to their employees and still compete in the global market.

The three Democrats advocated for a system that would provide affordable, high-quality health care coverage for everyone.

Allard said he thinks the United States still has one of the best health care systems in the world, but it has some significant issues - notably rising costs. "We need to do everything possible to make affordable health insurance options available to families and small businesses," he said, adding that he does not favor a health care system administered by the government.

According to Udall, every American deserves to have access to "the same coverage that members of Congress enjoy." Like all other federal employees, members of Congress are covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which allows them to choose among many different insurance providers and benefit plans. Employees pay part of their insurance premiums.

The three Democrats have varying ideas about the extent to which the federal government should be involved in health care reform and insurance coverage.

Salazar said reform will come only from "a collaboration between the states, federal government and the business sector." He supports federal programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and SCHIP for vulnerable populations. For others, he favors measures such as tax credits and pooling arrangements that would help individuals and businesses to afford insurance coverage.

Udall said that while he believes strongly in private enterprise, "government must play a more significant role in addressing the problem of universal coverage." Like Salazar, he has supported legislation such as tax credits and group purchasing pools to bring down the cost of insurance. He thinks all Americans should be required to have health insurance; supporting employer plans could further this goal, he suggested.

According to DeGette, "While states serve as effective laboratories for health care reform, the federal government must play an intrinsic role in health care reform." She said she wants to look at all options for providing quality health care access for all citizens.

Health care reform promises to be a prominent issue in the 2008 presidential election, since polls identify it as the top domestic issue for American voters. Already, each Democratic hopeful is scurrying to develop his or her own health care plan, while Republican candidates have largely shied away from the issue.