The Individualist 10.12.07: S-CHIP

Posted by Joe Rivett on 10.12.2007

The poor get Medicaid and the rich don't need to worry about paying for health insurance. Fair or unfair?

This past week, the President Bush decided to veto a bipartisan bill known as the S-CHIP. The Democrats and a chunk of Republicans wanted to expand the program so that children without health insurance could get insurance. This plan was designed to help Middle Class families as some make too much for Medicaid but cannot afford the price of insurance and/or do not work at jobs that provide insurance.

This would be no minor expansion as the increase would go from five billion to thirty-five billion. Many states are experiencing funding shortfalls which is why the bill calls for a dramatic spending increase. The states have an interest because it is cheaper to have children on the S-Chip program than to not have them on the program. When children without insurance get sick they go to the emergency room where a hospital cannot turn the person away. This costs thousands of dollars whereas the problem could have been taken care of by a private doctor under the S-CHIP.

If this increase is approved, a family of four making 62,000 dollars could have their children enrolled. The big question is can a family of four making 62,000 dollars afford health insurance? I'll crunch some numbers…

Yearly Cost

$10,000 – mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and upkeep of home
$7,200 – food
$7,200 – 2 car payments, car insurance, and upkeep of cars
$2,400 – gas for cars assuming vehicles get 30 miles a gallon and goes 12,000 miles a year
$1,200 – heat
$1,000 – electric
$2,000 – cable, phone, + modem
$2,400 – student loan payments
$7,200 – day care for one child
$1,000 – retirement
$1,000 - vacation
$2,600 – other expenses – clothing, entertainment, activities, school, etc.
$3,844 – social security payments (6.2%)
$899 – medicare (1.45%)
$9,300 – federal income taxes (15%)
$2,480 – new york income tax (4%)

$61,723 for yearly expenses

I did not try to get my number to add up to 62,000. Frankly, I'm surprised how close it came. I used my budget and factored in the cost of children. Notice on my yearly cost list that I do not include health expenses. Of course you can eliminate a vacation, cable, and entertainment, but keep in mind that I estimated pretty low for those numbers and every American deserves to have a little fun in life.

I realize that the family of four is going to get a nice tax break and obtain income in other ways such as gifts. However, imagine only making $50,000 with two kids? It appears the funding the Democrats want to increase is reasonable.

I'm not convinced all adults deserve health care but I am convinced that every child should receive health care. Children should not be held responsible for growing up in a lower middle class family. It is not a child's fault if dad can't find a job that offers a health plan. It is not a child's fault if a mom blows all of her disposable income gambling. We can hold adults responsible for the decisions they make in life. We can say to someone that you should have gone to college, but let us not take it out on their five year old.

I do not like how the Democrats want to fund the S-CHIP. Taxing cigarettes is taxing the poor as more poor people smoke. It also takes advantage of an addiction. Why not tax something that people are not addicted to such as fast food? Obesity is far more of a health issue than smoking. Plus, if the cost of cigarettes gets too high, where does the government get the tax revenue?

What is really upsetting is Bush's reasoning for the veto. He opposes S-CHIP because it leads to socialized medicine. So what? We already have socialized medicine and it is called Medicaid and Medicare. Why not get rid of those programs? In fact, Bush allowed a massive spending increase in a Medicare prescription program which means that he is not opposed to socialized medicine.

The other upsetting aspect is that Bush decided to prove he was fiscally conservative on a bill involving the health of children. Vetoing an excessive transportation bill or subsides for companies that make millions would have been a better starting point. It is also upsetting that Bush didn't have a problem with spending under the Republican control of Congress.

Overall the S-CHIP is a reasonable idea. I support it because as someone of the lower middle class, I feel that we don't benefit from our government often enough. The poor get Medicaid and the rich don't need to worry. I also support it because when I left for college, my mother had to take me off of her health insurance because she couldn't afford it. It would have been nice to not have to pay a doctor 200 dollars because of a cough.

I don't want to hear in 2008 that the Democrats did nothing in Congress. They are trying to pass bills. It would be nice if the president could work with the Congress. But I guess we have to wait 469 days until things change.

Things I Don't Give a Shit About

Apparently, Obama stopped wearing a pin of a flag. Let me ask you this… Email me if YOU wear a pin of a flag? I'm not expecting any emails. This is the first thing Obama has done that I noticed and liked. I hate politicians that wear pins just like I hate people with "support our troops" magnets. Yeah, like a magnet is going to help our troops avoid IEDs. You want to support the troops? Elect politicians that understand foreign policy.