Devoted to the Insurance industry and all thing related

An important program for children is set to end this year.  The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) “targets low income families who do not qualify for Medicaid” according to an article on crosswalk.com.  

To be more specific SCHIP varies by state but for the most part “uninsured children under the age of 19, whose families earn up to $36,200 a year (for a family of four) are eligible” according to the program website.  The insurance will pay for “doctors visits, immunizations, hospitalizations and emergency room visits.”       

I’m in agreement with one lawmaker, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich), who said, “the program should be expanded to cover more of the uninsured, arguing that ‘healthcare should be a right, not a privilege.’"  He went on to say “this is something for us to do while we wait for a White House and an administration that is supportive of universal healthcare.”  There will be no serious discussions of universal healthcare while this current administration is mired in Iraq and other bungled decisions.  
Nina Owcharenko, a senior health policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation said, “SCHIP is only putting a band-aid on the problem. The problem is what's happening in the healthcare system as a whole.  There are other policy changes that can be made that will help children and their families obtain health insurance.  Policymakers should really look beyond SCHIP and figure out what it is about the system as a whole that is preventing these children from getting coverage."

It truly is sad that the most “powerful” nation in the world can’t even provide health care to all of its children or dare I say future.