Bush Vetoes Bipartisan SCHIP Bill; 72% of Americans Favor Increased Children's Health Insurance Funding

One week after the U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation that will improve accessibility of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program [SCHIP] program -- a plan that provides health insurance for millions of kids who wouldn't otherwise have health care -- President Bush vetoed the bill to increase funding by $35 billion.

Why should GoodBiz113 readers care? First off, SCHIP is simply good, solid, humane legislation. Secondly, because Sens. John Kerry [D-Mass.] and Olympia Snowe [R-Maine], both of whom devotedly serve on the Committee for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, had attached an amendment to the legislation to enroll more children in the program -- i.e., children of small-business owners, their employeees, self-employed people, and entrepreneurs.

Bush's proposal of a mere $5 billion funding increase would not have even kept pace with inflation and spiraling medical costs. Further, for a president whose generous tax cuts for the wealthy, and whose administration has erased a budget surplus, crying for frugality now seems unconscionably incongruent.

Recent polls have shown that an overwhelming majority of people -- 72%, according to a Washington Post-ABC News survey -- favor the proposed SCHIP funding measure. Fully 86% of the American people support reauthorizing SCHIP.

More specifically, as GoodBiz113 reported last week ["OPEN: Small-Business Owners Hold the Line on Hiring, Remain Focused on Growth in Uncertain Economy"], nearly early eight in 10 [79%] small businesses would consider proposed health-care policy solutions as a way to make health care accessible. More than half support a plan that would "ensure every child in the U.S. has health insurance" [58%], or "provide tax credits to low-income workers to help pay for health care" [54%].

Still, the president stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the will of Americans on this issue -- just as he does on the war in Iraq, which he contends is key to our nation's security. He fails to recognize that security of the nation's children also is in jeopardy when it comes to lack of health care.

"If government-supported health care is good enough for President Bush, why isn’t it good enough for America’s children?" poses senior Sen. Ted Kennedy [D-Mass., pictured above], who introduced SCHIP legislation 10 years ago. "We can be a voice for the nation's children -- a voice that every member of Congress needs to hear. If government-supported health care is good enough for Congress, it’s good enough for America’s children."

Exercise Your Voice
On Oct. 18, Congress will vote on overriding Bush's veto. If you'd like to voice your views to your elected officials before then, please do so at your earliest possible opportunity.

You can find your U.S. Senators here: http://www.senate.gov/

You can locate your U.S. House representative via this link: http://www.house.gov/

Sources: ABC News, OPEN from American Express, Washington Post
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Bipartisan Bill Expands Health-Care Access for Small Businesses

Yesterday, in a victory for the families of small-business owners and their employees, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation that will improve accessibility of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program [SCHIP] program. Senators John Kerry [D-Mass.] and Olympia Snowe [R-Maine] attached an amendment to the legislation that will create a governmental task force to enroll more children in the program. The provision requires the Small Business Administration [SBA] to team with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Labor to educate small business owners, employees and the self-employed about the eligibility and enrollment requirements for SCHIP.

“President Bush’s threat to veto kids’ health care means that as many as 4.4 million children, including the sons and daughters of small-business owners and the self-employed, will be denied access to health coverage,” said Sen. Kerry, chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. “Democrats and Republicans came together to put the health and safety of American children ahead of politics and ideology. President Bush should drop his ill-conceived veto threat and do right by our nation’s children by giving them health care.”

"The amendment I cosponsored with Senator Kerry would create a multi-agency campaign, including the Small Business Administration, to help enroll children in the SCHIP program who are currently eligible for the program, but not currently enrolled," explained Sen. Snowe, ranking member of Kerry's committee. "Many of these children come from families who work for a small business or are self-employed. It is imperative that the SBA and its resource partners actively work to reduce the number of uninsured children in this country."

The Kerry-Snowe amendment, modeled after the Small Business Children’s Health Education Act [S. 1714], would:

* Establish an Intergovernmental Task Force to conduct a nationwide campaign of education and outreach for small businesses regarding the availability of coverage through SCHIP and/or other private insurance options;

* Encourage the use of SBA’s business partners -- including Small Business Development Centers, Certified Development Companies, Women's Business Centers, and SCORE -- as well as private and non-profit groups, to increase SCHIP enrollment;

* Create a hotline for small businesses to call with questions about SCHIP eligibility and enrollment; and

* Require SBA to provide prominent online access to information on eligibility and enrollment requirements.

GoodBiz113's take: SCHIP is far-reaching, win-win-win legislation that truly benefits current and future generations of workers, small-business owners, entrepreneurs, and self-employed people. Replete with enthusiastic support from both sides of the political aisle, SCHIP deserves to be enacted and funded ASAP.

Sources: Library of Congress, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Wikipedia
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