New York Times, October 2, 2007: 8 States Plan to Press Bush on Health Bill
Gov. Eliot Spitzer said yesterday that New York, joined by six other states, would file suit against the Bush administration, challenging stricter eligibility rules for the government health insurance program that covers poor children. Separately, Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced yesterday that New Jersey filed a similar suit against the administration.
The protests from the states come in the wake of President Bush۪s threat to veto legislation that would loosen those rules and increase federal funds for the State Children۪s Health Insurance Program, or Schip. The bipartisan bill would expand coverage to 10 million children from the 6.6 million covered now.
More than 40 states have urged Washington to act quickly to reauthorize funds for the program, which has been the subject of angry debate in Congress over how much the federal government should contribute.
In their legal challenges, the eight states contend that the new eligibility rules, which went into effect in August and limit coverage to children living at or below 250 percent of the poverty level, will either force out children in the program or leave tens of thousands without coverage who would be eligible.
In August, federal health officials informed states that they could no longer receive federal matching funds for children in families living above 250 percent of the poverty level, except under special conditions that the states say would be almost impossible to meet. Three weeks ago the federal health officials denied a request by New York to insure more children by covering those in families with incomes up to 400 percent of the poverty rate, or $82,600 for a family of four.
“Despite every effort to negotiate in good faith, the Bush administration did nothing but put roadblocks and poison pills in our path,” Governor Spitzer said at a news conference yesterday. “The president was out of touch with the reality on the ground.”
Mr. Spitzer said that Maryland, Illinois and Washington would join New York in the lawsuit, with Arizona, California and New Hampshire filing amicus briefs in the case. He has argued that the new rules violate the intent of the federal law that created the children۪s insurance program in 1997.
Jeff Nelligan, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which administers Schip, issued a statement saying, “We are confident that our requirements are appropriate and will be sustained in a court of law.”
He added, “Our chief goal with Schip is to ensure that the poorest kids and those with no health insurance are placed at the front of the line.”
An expansion of the national program passed by both the House and Senate would provide $60 billion over the next five years, $35 billion more than current spending. President Bush has proposed adding $5 billion to current spending.
New Jersey, which estimates that 10,000 children will lose health insurance under the new eligibility rules unless the Congressional version prevails, filed its lawsuit yesterday in federal court in Trenton.
Governor Corzine, speaking at a news conference, criticized the White House for both the veto threat and the eligibility rules, saying: “The Bush administration has gone far beyond its regulatory rights. I think there۪s going to be major, major pushback.”
New York health officials said that the Congressional version would allow the state to add 70,000 children to the 396,000 currently covered.
David W. Chen and Winter Miller contributed reporting.