Republicans Craft Alternative to SCHIP Expansion
Plan is based on tax credits, not socialized medicine
By Bluey Posted in Congress — Comments (10) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
As Congress prepares to vote on an SCHIP bill that President Bush has promised to veto, sources on Capitol Hill tell me that Republicans are working feverishly to introduce an alternative that would satisfy conservatives and shore up enough support among moderates to sustain the veto.
Sen. Mel Martinez and other Republicans are working on a true compromise bill. It is designed to give wavering Republicans an alternative to the $35-billion expansion of SCHIP. A version similar to the Martinez bill is expected to be introduced in the House.
Martinez and other Republicans have resolved their differences that doomed an alternative SCHIP bill just two months ago. The new agreement has the support of conservative activists such as Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform as well as the White House.
Martinez’s bill is based on the tenets of a Heritage Foundation proposal by health-care experts Stuart Butler and Nina Owcharenko. It includes three simple components:
• Reauthorize SCHIP for eligible children. The bill would continue to cover kids in families with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
• Enact a child health care tax credit. Rather than putting more people on a government-run program, the bill would offer tax credits to families with incomes between 200% and 300% of the poverty level. This would cover the population targeted by liberals with their bill, but instead of forcing them to drop their current coverage, it would provide assistance to keep their current insurance plan.
• Adopt a "federalism" health-care initiative. The bill encourages greater experimentation at the state level to expand health-care coverage.
Continued on the jump ...
A final vote on the $35-billion SCHIP expansion is expected to come later today or tomorrow in the House and Senate. While there’s virtually no hope of sustaining a veto in the Senate (where as many as 69 senators could support SCHIP expansion), the prospects are much better in the House.
"This is a defining vote for Republicans. You are either for or against health care directed by the Washington bureaucracy," Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the chief deputy whip, told Congressional Quarterly today.
Still, some moderates, such as Reps. Heather Wilson and Ray LaHood, are lobbying their colleagues to support the Democrats’ bill. With an alternative on the way, however, those renegade Republicans should find it harder to peel off other moderates.
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Republicans Craft Alternative to SCHIP Expansion 10 Comments (0 topical, 10 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
....it's not enough for the GOP to just "be against" SCHIP (and other liberal schemes), we must offer our conservative alternatives. Now the GOP needs to aggressively sell this thing as a better option.
This thing sounds ok to me given that it has the support of Grover Norquist, The Heritage Foundation, and Eric Cantor.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
Make no mistake, this whole program is fundamentally unconservative, but this is a case where the liberal-leaning Rs are getting their way. We're just trying to get them to work with *us* to expand government much, much, much less than it'll expand if they work with the Democrats.
And that's fine. I'm not shy about my willingness to defect when my views aren't followed, and neither should they.
HTML Help Central for Red Staters
Reality: Thompson/Romney Dream: Santorum/Watts.
Once again, Republicans are giving the Left what they want, just doing it on the cheap. The problem is, once they get it on the cheap they can add more money to it.
In my lifetime, I can remember one agency that was killed via "sunset" legislation. I don't remember the department, but it was Nixon that killed it.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
....I don't think that they would kill the whole program if they were still in control of Congress, but they certainly wouldn't be adding 35 billion. Elections have consequences - unfortunatley being in the minority means sometimes the best you can shoot for is watering down the Democrat bills. The situation is what it is.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
did we just spend "watering down Democrat bills"?
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
The rational that "Hey, It's a government program, of course it's budget has to balloon there’s no other way!"
The “moderates” have signed on for the full on max know no bounds increase, meanwhile the conservatives bravely “limit” the increase to 10 billion to please the “moderates”.
Question, you’re a voter looking some adult to step and for once to simply say “NO! That is quite enough!” Who do you vote for?
Now, I know what you’re thinking, but if we don’t fall into line we will lose votes? Ok, let’s examine that line of reasoning, let’s assume you like big government, this program rocks! Who are you going to vote for “Democrat Lite” moderate Republican or are you going to vote for the real deal “Full funding with more to come” Democrat. I’m guessing “spends great”, “less fiscally responsible” Democrat!
....but if The Heritage Foundation and Grover Norquist has signed on to the proposal, I feel better about it.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
From what I understand, if SCHIP isn't reauthorized, it will completely die, no more funding.
That sounds perfect to me! What's the problem?
No Republican is going to be elected as a result of supporting this program, and most people have never even heard of it.
The people who actually used this program aren't going to vote any differently, they are not going to suddenly become Republicans if it's passed with bipartisan support.
I hope Congress never reaches a compromise, and it once again becomes the parent's responsibility to provide their children with health care, not the federal government's.
Letting the SCHIP die without a compassionate Social Marketplace Health Care solution to fill the void is political suicide.
Politically, the SCHIP needs to be fought on two fronts.
1 -- The SCHIP program is basically the medicaid program under a different name. If it's good enough for the middle class, it ought to be good enough for Congress. Anyone in Congress who votes for it (and their staff), ought to be required to sign up for it.
2 -- The solutions that are being offered by the GOP seem a reasonable step in the right direction of promoting an individually responsible social marketplace for health care.
Always, Fred C
Let's say for the sake of argument that this Republican alternative increases the entitlement by "only" $10B instead of the Dems $35B.
Dem talking point/Primary MSM headline becomes: "Bush and Republicans propose slashing $25B from program to provide health care to poor kids."