by Hank Kalet, Managing Editor
Gov. Jon S. Corzine appears finally to be showing some backbone.
He has told President George W. Bush that he will ignore new federal rules designed to limit the number of children who can enroll in a federal-state insurance program and that he is considering a federal lawsuit if the president insists on limiting coverage under the program.
Under new rules issued by the administration in August, families with incomes up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level would be covered. But new, stricter limitations would be placed on states limiting their ability to cover families with higher incomes. Under the new rules, a child would have to be uninsured for at least a year before he or she could qualify for the program — a requirement that has governors of high-cost-of-living states fuming.
In a letter Gov. Corzine sent the president Sept. 12, the governor called the federal rules “onerous” and could toss up to 10,000 lower- and middle-income kids from the federally subsidized State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the paper said.
”The practical effect of the new policy would be that thousands of innocent children will lose or be denied health insurance coverage and will be forced to join the growing ranks of the uninsured,” the letter said.
Gov. Corzine’s declaration comes as Congress and the president wrangle over the fate of the program, commonly known as SCHIP. The 10-year-old program, which is jointly funded by the federal and state governments, is designed to provide health care coverage to families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. States have some flexibility under the program that allows them to raise the income threshold and cover more kids — something that New Jersey, New York, California and others have done.
The program is scheduled to expire Sept. 30, and members of Congress of both parties have endorsed the idea of not only reauthorizing it, but of extending it to cover significantly more children. A letter to the president signed by 40 senators asked the administration to scrap the rules.
”We oppose these new requirements as they will result in the loss of coverage for tens of thousands of children and could block efforts underway by other states working to insure more kids,” said the letter, which was sent last week.
Four senators — Republicans Olympia Snowe of Maine and Gordon Smith of Oregon and Democrats Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and John Rockefeller of West Virginia — have introduced legislation to block implementation of the new rules.
”Health coverage has grown so expensive that even above 250 percent of the federal poverty line, many families simply cannot afford it,” Sen. Snowe said, according to the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report.
Especially in New Jersey, where 254,000 children are uninsured, according to a report from Families USA, an advocacy group.
Hence, the governor’s letter — and the movement in Congress to expand the program.
While I’m glad to see the governor stand up for the program and hope that Congress is successful in its battle with the president, the reality is that SCHIP is little more than a Band-Aid on a larger problem — the more general failure of the American health insurance system.
A total of 47 million Americans lack health insurance, about 2.2 million more than in 2005, according to a U.S. Census report issued in August. Overall, according to The Washington Post, about 15.8 percent of Americans are without insurance — up from 15.3 percent in 2005, despite a slight decline in the national poverty rate. More children, 11.7 percent, also lacked coverage, up from 10.9 percent in 2005.
That’s why more comprehensive reform — specifically, a national system of universal coverage, administered by the government and paid for out of our taxes — is needed.
Will getting something like this through Congress be easy? No. But then, developing and applying new Band-Aids is not proving to be that simple either.
One last thing: I will be running in the 35th annual LBI Commemorative 18-Mile Run in Long Beach Island on Oct. 7, which raises money for the St. Francis Community Center in Brant Beach. I’ll also be raising money for the South Brunswick Human Intervention Trust Fund. I’m asking readers to help by sending donations, which I’ll forward to the township’s Division of Social Services. Readers who are interested in donating should send checks made out to the South Brunswick Human Intervention Trust Fund to the South Brunswick Post, P.O. Box 309, Dayton, N.J. 08810, attn: Hank Kalet.
Hank Kalet is managing editor of the South Brunswick Post and The Cranbury Press. His e-mail is [email protected] and his blog, Channel Surfing, can be found at www.kaletblog.com.

