Bush's SCHIP policy violates law

This is perhaps old news by now, but on Friday afternoon several media outlets, including The Hill, reported that...

The Bush administration’s limits on expansions of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) are unlawful, according to Congress’s investigative arm.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unlawfully bypassed congressional review when it issued a directive to states in August alerting them that federal authorities would seek to restrict raising the income eligibility level for the program, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a report issued Thursday. [Read the whole thing here]

We have known for some time that the Bush Administration has little regard for the law - a deep irony given that the GOP has long been touted as the party of "law & order". This is just the latest example and one that touches close to me because of my work with the PICO Network to expand SCHIP coverage so that all children in America can see a doctor when they need to. Our campaign was ultimately unsuccessful last year, but we are not finished with this fight.

"Extending health coverage to the millions of the uninsured children whose families are struggling to make ends meet is at heart a moral issue and therefore should be a top priority for the next President," said Rev. Bob Stevens, Chair of Congregations United for Neighborhood Action, the PICO affiliate in Lehigh Valley, PA. "PICO urges all of the Presidential campaigns to make a clear commitment to enact bi-partisan SCHIP legislation within the first 100 days of their administration." [more]

Comments

[alburn]

good post! This American Life had a show recently about how litigous the current administration has become. Its a good listen for anyone interested in modern politics.