I get that some people resent paying for the welfare of others.
I understand human nature enough to know that the notion of spending tax dollars to help freeloaders offends some people.
I also believe most people are compassionate and caring. They believe in helping the most vulnerable members of society, including children.
I think it’s important to consider those concepts when framing discussion about congressional inaction on funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.
The program benefits nearly 9 million children and about 370,00 pregnant women nationwide, including about 250,000 participants in Illinois. Congress created the program 20 years ago, and until this year it enjoyed broad bipartisan support.
Funding for the program ended on Sept. 30, and since then Congress has failed to authorize new funds. Some states are warning they’ll run out of funds as soon as January, though Illinois says it has sufficient funds to continue the program until next September.
Uncertainty over the future of CHIP is causing anxiety for many families, including that of Rachael Hoffman, 30, of Orland Park. Her 5-year-old daughter has benefited from the program since before she was born, Hoffman told me.
“I was unemployed when I was pregnant when the Borders (bookstore in Orland Park) closed” in 2011, she said.
I asked how she found out she was eligible for the program.
“I just applied,” she said. “I needed insurance.”
The Illinois version of CHIP is called All Kids and it is administered through the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. It’s combined with the state’s Medicaid program, and more than 1.6 million children are enrolled in All Kids, the department says on its website.
I think it’s important to note the distinction between CHIP and Medicaid. Whereas Medicaid primarily serves low-income people who could not otherwise afford health insurance, CHIP serves working families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance through their employers or other sources.
Hoffman said she works full-time as a receptionist at a day care center in the West Loop. I visited her modest home in a tidy neighborhood on Orland Park’s north side.
The federal government says on the CHIP website that states have different income eligibility rules, but that in most states children may qualify with family income up to $49,200 per year.
CHIP covers U.S. citizens “and certain lawfully present immigrants.” The program covers healthy participants as well as sick ones. It pays for routine checkups, immunizations, doctor visits, prescriptions, dental and vision care, hospitalizations, laboratory and emergency services.
“Every child deserves this level of care,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman told me her daughter has a form of epilepsy that has resulted in several multiday hospitalizations. The girl is prescribed medication that costs about $1,500 a month, Hoffman said. CHIP has covered all of the youngster’s medical bills, she said.
“(She) might not even be here if not for CHIP,” she said. “We wouldn’t be able to pay for hospital stays without it. It’s not manageable.”
Hoffman and other families must reapply for CHIP every year and submit documentation showing proof of eligibility. CHIP covers the girl, but Hoffman and other adults have to obtain their own health insurance.
CHIP costs about $15 billion of the nearly $3.8 trillion federal budget.
Democratic members of Congress who represent the Southland have urged their Republican colleagues to renew funding for CHIP.
Rep. Robin Kelly, of Matteson, and 32 congressional colleagues co-signed a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, minority leader, calling for swift reauthorization of funding for CHIP.
“CHIP has received consistent bipartisan support since it was signed into law in 1997,” the letter said. “Over the last two decades it has played a critical role in dramatically reducing the uninsured rate of children in modest households whose incomes exceed Medicaid eligibility thresholds.
“Without CHIP, these children will lose access to necessary care and some states will discontinue their CHIP programs altogether,” the letter said.
I spoke Thursday with Rep. Dan Lipinski, of Western Springs, whose 3rd District covers a large part of the Southland. He told me attempts to extend funding for CHIP have so far stalled over GOP demands on cuts elsewhere. Republicans are insisting on offsets to pay for the program, he said.
“The biggest issue is paying for it,” Lipinski said.
The House passed a CHIP measure in October that failed to garner 60 votes in the Senate, he said. Funding the program is now part of negotiations over a continuing resolution to keep the federal government operating past Dec. 22, he said.
“Everything I’m hearing is that next week, that bill will include a reauthorization (of CHIP funding). That’s the expectation,” Lipinski said.
I agree with the principle of fiscal responsibility. I find it hypocritical, however, for GOP lawmakers to dicker over funding a program that benefits children of working families and expectant mothers when they’re about to approve a $1.5 trillion tax break that primarily benefits corporations and the nation’s wealthiest individuals.
In the past, it seemed Republicans worked hard to project an image of caring for vulnerable people. President George W. Bush called his philosophy “compassionate conservatism.” I think advocating fiscal restraint without appearing mean is a delicate balance with subtle nuances.
I think by rushing through its partisan tax bill and failing to fund CHIP, GOP lawmakers are at risk of appearing cruel.
On Wednesday, The Texas Observer published an insightful guest commentary by pediatrician Rachel Pearson about the CHIP program.
“Most of my patients have never worked a day in their lives,” she wrote. “Sometimes, I have to bribe my patients with bright-colored objects, juice or graham crackers just to examine them.
“Often, they are literally carried from place to place in the arms of a real taxpayer,” she wrote. “I provide these scowling little freeloaders with life-saving therapies like vaccinations and antibiotics.”
Pearson’s piece was satirical. But the lack of funding for CHIP is no joke. Millions of children could soon lose health insurance unless Congress acts. Their parents will face difficult choices about whether an illness is serious enough to warrant a visit to a doctor or emergency room.
If that happens, I think the political costs to the GOP could be catastrophic. Republicans could be branded as politicians who belong to the party that doesn’t care about the welfare of children or unborn babies of working families.
