The health of our children must be secured

By Devon Rossetto

As a pediatric resident, I routinely care for children covered by Healthy Families, California's State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The U.S. Congress first passed SCHIP in 1997 to provide money to states to help families of the working poor.

But SCHIP also funds health care for children whose families make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to either afford private insurance or receive health care benefits through their employer.

SCHIP currently covers 6.6 million children; an additional 6 million are eligible but unenrolled. The bill for funding the program was up for reauthorization this past September and both the House and Senate passed a bipartisan compromise to provide $35 billion over 5 years to cover an additional 4 million uninsured children.

President Bush presented a counter-proposal of $5 billion over 5 years, which fails to cover any of the 6 million eligible children who are currently not enrolled. (To put the dollar amounts in perspective, we have spent $254 billion over four years on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan).

On Tuesday, the president vetoed the SCHIP reauthorization legislation, effectively condemning millions of children to a life in the United States without health care. Bush says the reauthorization would lead to "high-income" kids enrolling in the program.

The reality is that many of the so-called "high income" kids live in states that have a high cost of living; for example, a family of four in Los Angeles making $60,000 a year does not have disposable income to cover health care costs. In addition, the Bush administration fails to explain why its proposal doesn't cover any of the 6 million eligible under current guidelines (generally children of families with incomes less than 250% of the federal poverty level).

It is impossible not to conclude that the Bush administration, which supposedly supports family values, is not really concerned if children of the working poor are uninsured.

Bush also claims he wants to keep government out of health care and keep it "privatized." In fact, 77% of enrollees in SCHIP are in private-managed care plans. Government funding for a program does not necessarily mean it is government-run. For example, Bush's own personal insurance plan is run by the government.

Children are the future of America and failing to provide healthcare to them is unacceptable. That is why, shortly before Bush's expected veto on Oct. 2, pediatric residents from more than 30 programs across rallied at the Mattel Children's Hospital in Westwood Village to show their support for the SCHIP legislation and to implore Congress to override the presidential veto.

The Senate has the necessary two-thirds majority to override the veto, but the House of Representatives is about 25 votes short of delivering a countermand.

Nevertheless, everyone's efforts in this matter can make a difference. We simply cannot afford the cost of not insuring our future. To do your bit for our children's future, contact your elected representatives by going to www.house.gov or calling (202) 224-3121.

Rosetto is a second-year resident in the Community Health and Advocacy Training program in the department of pediatrics.