As expiration of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program nears, Congress faces a potential battle over funding the popular program at levels that will keep pace with the increasing cost of health care, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Currently, SCHIP is financed with a $5 billion annual allocation. If Congress renews the program with no funding increase, government estimates indicate that 1.5 million children could lose their coverage by 2012. Maintaining current coverage will require an additional $13 billion to $15 billion over five years, the Times reports. Failure to renew the program would leave up to 6 million children without coverage. President Bush is expected to ask for an increase for SCHIP in his proposed budget next month--but that could mean cuts in other healthcare programs, which Democrats would oppose.
SCHIP, said former Medicare administrator Mark McClellan, “has proven to be a very popular program with strong bipartisan support, and a very cost-effective way to cover kids.”
