The House passed a revised S-CHIP bill by a vote of 265-142 yesterday. The two major objections of the GOP to the first bill was that children of illegal immigrants would receive coverage and that the benefits were available to families making 4 times the poverty level which was just over $80,000 per year.
The new bill deals with both these issues. It prevents benefits from being paid for children of illegals. It also reduced the maximum income levels to about $62,000 per year. The new bill that passed the House is truly a Middle Income benefit. Children in families making under the Federal Poverty level, which is about $21,000 per year, are covered by Medicaid. This bill would enable families with incomes above $21,000, who are not covered by Medicaid, up to $62,000 per year to be covered.
The action of the Democrats is an example of their commitment to provide help to middle income working families. It is a measure that does not help the poor or the upper middle and high income families who are better able to pay the cost of health coverage. No one can argue that families making $21,000-$62,000 have the money to pay for health insurance which would cost them between $7,000- $8,000.
Despite the changes in this bill, 142 members of the House did not support this important measure for the children of middle income working families. Almost ALL those who voted against this revised bill are Republicans. Bush has again said he will veto this bill if it passes congress. Senate action remains to be scene.
This is a perfect example of how the GOP has and continues to ignore what the middle income families need in the economic environment today. The Democrats say that the needs of the middle class have been ignored since Bush took office. It is time to begin helping the foundation of this country- The middle class. Any member of Congress who will not support this bill clearly shows they DO NOT care about the average American family and DO NOT deserve to remain serving in Congress! Not only does this bill provide badly need help for our children but health care to these 4 million children without health coverage will help in the future by preventing health problems that will add to the overall health costs they grow into adults. There is NO valid reason for anyone to oppose this bill and voters need to remove any who fail to step up to the plate on this issue!