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State Child Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)
LAC Staff
July 16, 2007
- Created in 1997, SCHIP is a financial partnership between the national government and the states. The national government provides funding through block grants to the states, on average matching 72 percent of state spending based on expenditures per participant.
- When authorizing the program, Congress appropriated $40 billion for ten years and set family income eligibility at 200 percent of the poverty level. After ten years of experience with SCHIP, we now see that states are committing egregious violations of these regulations and are doing a disservice to their children by expanding this program past Congressional regulations.
- The SCHIP funding of fourteen (14) states is in the red. New Jersey, one of the states facing SCHIP shortfalls, covers children at 350 percent of poverty (a family income of more than $72,000).
- States have expanded their SCHIP programs beyond serving children. More than 10 percent of those covered by the children’s insurance program are actually adults. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes that in Minnesota, 87 percent of total SCHIP enrollees in 2005 were adults. In Arizona, 56 percent of those enrolled in SCHIP were adults, despite the state having a 16 percent child poverty rate.
- SCHIP could be used to fund morally objectionable practices such as abortion. While the enabling legislation does stipulate that the federal government shall not pay for abortion using SCHIP dollars except in the case of rape, incest or life of the mother, it also stipulates that other state, local or private funds are not affected.
- There are no conscience protections under SCHIP; parents and physicians cannot opt out of service packages due to a moral objection toward these services.
- Parents are not notified under SCHIP if their child receives contraception under the SCHIP program. Violating a participant’s freedom of conscience and a parent’s right to know are not principles that should be condoned using taxpayer dollars.
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