Sep
19
Written by:
Dan Besse
9/19/2007
No, that wasn't a misprint. The Bush Administration is fighting to keep states from helping more sick kids from working families get health care. As is common for the bunch in this White House, they slipped the announcement of an unpopular and controversial decision out on Friday night in order to minimize media attention. They seem to understand that their callousness will offend most Americans, and they work to keep it hidden from public view as much as possible.
This latest outrage defies the clear intent of Congress and seeks to stymie the efforts of an increasing number of states, including North Carolina. Just this year, the N.C. General Assembly approved an expansion of our state's Health Choice for Children health insurance plan. Effective next fiscal year, children from families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level would become eligible for this health insurance program. Those working families earning more than 200% of the poverty level would be able to buy into coverage on a sliding-scale fee basis. (I and many others pushed hard to get this expansion of affordable health insurance for working families.)
The Bush Administration's fly-by-night rules announcement will jeopardize affordable health care for hundreds of thousands of children, including 38,000 here in North Carolina.
As a city elected leader, I had the opportunity today to discuss this problem with U.S. Representative Mel Watt (D-NC12). Congressman Watt understands the issue, and I am confident that he will support efforts in Congress to override this heartless Bush policy. I encourage my fellow North Carolinians to contact your representatives in Congress, and urge them to do likewise.
The Bush policy is just flat wrong. We have too many kids who get sick (or sicker) because they lack preventive health care or early medical care, since their families can't afford to buy health insurance on the private market. Fighting to deny health care access for those children, purely out of a "government help is bad" ideology, is a sick policy.
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