Columnist Faults White House on Kids’ Insurance
It is "hard to see how anyone can, in good conscience, think that preserving subsidies to insurance companies is more important than providing health care for children," but that is "exactly the position taken by the Bush administration," New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes in an opinion piece. According to Krugman, Democrats have proposed to reduce payments to Medicare Advantage plans to fund an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
However, the Bush administration is "adamantly opposed both to any attempt to expand" SCHIP -- "in fact, the administration wants to cut its reach -- and to any attempt to reduce Medicare Advantage payments," Krugman writes, adding, "Clearly, the ... reasons for the administration's position have ... to do with the long-term battle over the future of the welfare state."
Krugman concludes, "For now, the choice is between A and B -- health care for children or subsidies for insurance companies. Which will it be?" (Krugman, New York Times, 4/6).