TIBERI AND THE SCHIP VOTE

Congressman Pat Tiberi, R-Delaware, is scrambling to justify his vote against extending federally subsidized health insurance coverage to children of working and lower middle-class families. 

The bill, which increases federal support for the State Childrens' Health Insurance Program or SCHIP, passed the House last week despite strong opposition from the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans.

Tiberi argues the measure is badly flawed, extending coverage to families earning up to $81,000 which could trigger higher Medicare rates for seniors as well as black and latino children now covered by Medicare advantage plans. See:

http://tiberi.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=70624

http://tiberi.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=70603 

What follows is a response being circulated by the Worthington Area Democratic Club:

This is absolutely outrageous.  Facts mean absolutely nothing.  There is no limit to how low they will swoop.

The "Medicare cuts" will have absolutely no impact on a single senior in Tiberi's district or anywhere in America.  What will be cut will be the lavish subsidies to insurance and drug companies in the original Medicare drug bill that the Republicans rammed through the House in the dead of night in violation of House rules while keeping the vote open in violation of House rules so that Tom DeLay could twist more arms.

Both the GAO and Bush's OMB have found that these subsidies far exceed the costs of the drug and insurance companies.  OMB urged Bush to propose cutting this corporate welfare.  He refused.  Tiberi is upset that the Democrats want to reduce, by a little, the corporate welfare to prosperous drug and insurance companies so that more poor children can have health insurance.

I can see why Tiberi is so upset.

Here are some questions to ask:

1.  Why does Tiberi oppose health insurance for middle class children?  Don't they matter?  Do we have no obligation to see that the middle class children get adequate health care in the richest country in the world?  The middle class gets health care in all other developed countries, why can't we get it in the USA?  Why do Tiberi and the Republicans always oppose adequate health care for middle class children?  What is it about the middle class that Tiberi and the Republicans despise so much?

2.  Why does Tiberi object to health insurance for the working poor adults who make too much to qualify for Medicaid?  Why must Republicans always declare war on the working poor?

3.  Why does Tiberi object to poor children getting better health insurance than what their parents can afford?  The 2.1 million children with private coverage who might qualify for SCHIP under the Democratic bill will not apply for SCHIP unless their current private coverage is even worse than SCHIP.  What's wrong with poor children getting good health insurance even though they are currently insured by totally inadequate private coverage?

4.  Why do Tiberi and the Republicans always oppose research on public health?  Do they think there is something that we shouldn't know about public health?  Why must Tiberi always come to the defense of insurance companies instead of improving public health?  Wouldn't it be nice if we could move our health care system into the top 20 in the developed world.  We are the richest country in the world, why can't we aspire to have health outcomes that would put us in the top 20?  Why are corporate profits always sacrosanct and to be protected even at the expense of saving lives by making sure that more children have health insurance?

5.  Why do Republicans always support encouraging tobacco use over improving health incomes?

Welcome to the opening salvo in the 2008 (2009?) national health insurance debate!

(Gray Hunter)

Comments

[Bob Bollinger]

The Republicans who voted against this are moral midgets. During election season they will no doubt be claiming that they are the party doing God's work, but they clearly are not. I don't know how they can sleep at night. They don't care one whit about their fellow Americans, not even the kids. They will always put the maintenance and increase of their personal wealth and that of their campaign contributors ahead of the common good. These are despicable legislators. It will be a cold day in Hades before I vote for one of them.