Texas Children In Danger Again: Bush's Restrictions On The ...

by Dr.Watson

In what seems like an overt effort to enrage Congress, President Bush has undermined the implementation of a bill expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program by issuing a set of guidelines virtually impossible for most states to meet.

With Congress in a month-long recess, Dennis G. Smith, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations, sent a letter to state health officials this past Friday outlining Bush’s new standards for the program, which impose what many believe are unattainable restrictions. States need to conform to the new rules within twelve months, warned the letter, or the administration “may pursue corrective action.”

That’s as good as a threat to many state officials, who say that the new standards could devastate their efforts to insure more children currently going without health coverage.

“We are horrified at the new federal policy,” said Ann Clemency Kohler, deputy commissioner of human services in New Jersey. “[This will] cause havoc with our program and jeopardize coverage for thousands of children.”

Texas will be one of the states hardest hit. Twenty-five percent of its population is already going uninsured, and that doesn’t include the 2.2 million children covered by Medicaid or CHIP, as of 2006. The Texas Legislature just passed House Bill 109, which is designed to loosen restrictions on CHIP enrollment, and is set to take effect September 1st. Under new state guidelines, the program’s enrollment period would extend to twelve months — versus the previous six — would eliminate the ninety-day waiting period for most children, and would ease certain asset restrictions. Bush’s standards would override many of these changes. The healthcare communities in Dallas, Houston, and Austin, especially, are already in danger of collapse due to the large number of uninsured, or underinsured patients. Any more could devastate their facilities.

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