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Roberts, Tiahrt give opposing arguments on SCHIP

Posted by Joel Mathis
October 18, 2007 at 8:13 a.m.

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Here are today's headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:SCHIP[(Wichita Eagle commentary) Roberts: Do not believe myths about SCHIP][1]: Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., wants to bust myths being spread by some opponents of the bill reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program. ... "This bill only covers children 18 or younger. This is current law, and this bill does not change that. More important, this bill actually fixes the problem created by this administration, which granted waivers to states to cover adults under this program meant for low-income children."This bill . . . builds on the current private structure, better allowing states to provide health insurance to children through the private market." Roberts' conclusion: "This is a good bill, and it will provide health insurance to children who would otherwise have no access to health care."[(Todd Tiahrt commentary in the Wichita Eagle) REP. TODD TIAHRT: SCHIP BILL SHOULD FOCUS ON LOW-INCOME CHILDREN:][2] President Bush two weeks ago vetoed a bill that will provide free health care for middle-income adults while 500,000 low-income children go uncovered. I supported the State Children's Health Insurance Program when Republicans created it 10 years ago, and I continue to support covering all of our country's low-income children. Unfortunately, the bill the president vetoed expands coverage to adults without covering all of our low-income children, which is why I will vote to sustain his veto.Rep. Nancy Boyda (D) ![][3][(Argghhh! commentary) Earned Income Tax Credit and the Services:][4] "It's about time", said Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) in a Tuesday morning press conference, when it comes to making permanent a tax relief for our military families. Boyda said eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit should NOT be temporary and has introduced a bill which will benefit thousands of military families, by expanding their eligibility for the tax relief. Boyda has introduced the Tax Relief for Armed Combat Families Act of 2007, which will permanently expand the eligibility of military families to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The legislation will cut the taxes of over 150,000 military families across the United States, in some cases by thousands of dollars. Rep. Jerry Moran (R) ![][5][(Harris News Service) Earmarks Now More Visible, But is New Rule Full of Holes?:][6] First District Congressman Jerry Moran, a Hays Republican, said this week that he backs legislation he says would extend openness and scrutiny to even more pieces of legislation that could contain earmarks. Current rules don't allow members to dispute earmarks inserted into non-spending bills, he said. He's also joining Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a frequent critic of congressional pork-barrel projects, in calling for a halt on new earmarks until a special committee can study ways to improve the process. "We've just created a system in which we spend too much and aren't doing it to the benefit of taxpayers," Moran said in a telephone interview. [1]: http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/10/roberts-do-not-.html [2]: http://www.kansas.com/205/story/203440.html [3]: http://ljworld.com/specials/election04/primary/boyda.jpg [4]: http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/washington_dc_i.html [5]: http://ljworld.com/specials/kudole/bios/art/moran.jpg [6]: http://www.nrcc.org/news/view_article.asp?id=692

Comments

jasonc_22 9 years, 10 months ago

Todd, this could just lose your your seat.

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BigDog 9 years, 10 months ago

Five Facts Democrats Don't Want Americans To Know About Their SCHIP Bill

  1. Congress' children's health insurance bill covers adults through FY 2012. New enrollment of parents under the existing waiver eligibility standards is permitted until the end of FY 2012 meaning Federal funding will still be available for coverage of these adults until the end of FY 2012.

  2. Congress' SCHIP bill covers childless adults through FY 2009. Any state with an existing childless adult waiver that expires before October 1, 2008, will get an automatic extension of the waiver upon request through September 30, 2009. The bill allows new enrollment of childless adults in FY 2008 and funding of childless adults through FY 2009.

  3. Congress' SCHIP bill does NOT cover poor children first. The legislation explicitly rejects a requirement that 95 percent of eligible children from families with incomes under 200 percent of the poverty level must be enrolled in SCHIP before children in higher-income families can be covered. There are more than 500,000 poor children eligible for SCHIP, but states have not signed them up.

  4. Congress' SCHIP bill covers children in some families earning up to $83,000 a year. The vetoed bill would have the result of grandfathering in New York at a higher SCHIP match rate than the rest of the country allowing SCHIP to cover children in some households with incomes of up to $83,000 per year (400 percent of the Federal poverty level for a family of four). It also overturns the standards that would allow the Health and Human Services Secretary to disapprove State plans to cover children in higher income families before every effort has been made to cover lower income children and regardless of whether newly covered children already have private health insurance.

  5. Congress' SCHIP bill would result in millions of children who now have private health insurance moving onto government coverage. Of the approximately 6 million enrollees Congress' legislation would attract by 2012, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that 2 million (one in three) would drop private insurance to enroll.

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BigDog 9 years, 10 months ago

notnowdear

How about your source for the claim that Rep. Tiahrt has secrets to hide?

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BigDog 9 years, 10 months ago

Here you go notnowdear. http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=7306

I know you will attack the source but if you don't believe the accuracies of the statements ..... read the legislation. And check out the facts that there are states where over 50% of those on SCHIP are adults NOT kids.

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