WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Barrasso , R-Wyo., today called on Congress to keep the focus of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) on low-income children. He opposed the Democrat bill, H.R. 976, which expands SCHIP to cover children of higher-income people, families who are already insured, and adults. The bill passed the Senate 67-29.
SCHIP currently provides health insurance for uninsured low-income children. It is set to expire on September 30th.
“Congress should take a good look at the way we do things in Wyoming ,” Barrasso said. “In Wyoming , SCHIP has been a very successful program. We call it Kid Care. It successfully covers more than 5,600 low-income children in our state in a responsible way. We have significantly reduced the number of uninsured children in Wyoming . I am committed to reauthorizing this very important safety net for kids.”
“Congressional Democrats are hijacking the program and turning it into a massive new entitlement,” Barrasso added. “Their plan would allow families in New York making $82,600 a year to get free insurance for children and adults. In my opinion, the hard working taxpayers of Wyoming shouldn’t be subsidizing the health insurance for a family of four in New York making over $80,000 a year.”
“Their proposal spends over $60 billion to cover the children of higher income people in some states and not others. It encourages people who already have insurance to drop it, and start letting Wyoming taxpayers pick up the tab.”
“The Congressional Budget Office looked at this problem. They believe that if the Democratic plan becomes law, 2.1 million people will move from private insurance they already have to government dependency. That’s exactly the wrong direction.”
“This country does need to have a serious debate on health care, but it should not be on the backs of the 5,600 children in Wyoming who are covered under SCHIP,” Barrasso concluded.
