Lawmakers discuss plans for SCHIP reauthorization

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on Monday at a forum co-sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said that Congress likely will have the ability to authorize the $50 billion over five years needed to enroll all children eligible for SCHIP but "hedged on whether it would do so this year or over the next several years," CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 2/26).

The fiscal year 2008 budget proposed earlier this month by President Bush includes a $5 billion increase in funds for SCHIP over five years. In addition, the budget proposal would limit SCHIP eligibility for new enrollees to children in families with annual incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level, or about $38,000 for a family of four (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/13). SCHIP will expire Sept. 30 without reauthorization by Congress (Johnson, CongressDaily, 2/26). According to Kennedy, the issue is whether Congress this year will have the ability to reauthorize SCHIP at the level needed to enroll all children eligible for the program. He said, "We'll have to see ... what we're able to do" (CQ HealthBeat, 2/26). Kennedy added, "We no longer have the safety valve of reallocating unspent funds from state to state, since more and more states are using up all their funds."

Hatch Comments
At the same forum, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, "If we make SCHIP into universal health care because that's so popular, I think it will kill the bill." Hatch added, "Let's be honest about it, we've got a lot of budgetary problems out there." Hatch said that he would support legislation to reauthorize SCHIP at the level needed to maintain coverage for children currently enrolled in the program and to enroll two million additional eligible children (CongressDaily, 2/26). House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) next month plan to introduce legislation that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP, but they have not finalized the details, according to Dingell spokesperson Jodi Seth (CQ HealthBeat, 2/26).

A webcast of forum is available online at kaisernetwork.org. Speakers at the event include Ed Howard, executive vice president for the Alliance for Health Reform; Cindy Mann, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University; Linda Nablo, director of Virginia's SCHIP; Judith Cash, deputy director of the Virginia Health Care Foundation; and Judith Wooldridge, senior vice president of Mathematica Policy Research.

Pallone Meets With Governors
Meanwhile, House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) on Monday at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association said that he will not support the SCHIP provisions included in the budget proposal (Johnson, Congress Daily, 2/27). Pallone said that states need between $12 billion and $13 billion over five years to avoid future deficits in federal funds for SCHIP. In addition, he said that he might seek to attach supplemental funds for SCHIP to legislation that provides supplemental funds for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said, "If we're really talking about an effective program, we're talking about $50 billion. I believe it can be done if it's a priority within the domestic budget" (Jackson, Bergen Record, 2/27).