Democrats’ Kids’ Health Plan Should Maintain Coverage
Congressional Democrats' plan to increase funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program is an attempt at "a back-door entrance to single-payer, government-controlled health insurance," Howard Epstein, vice chair of political affairs for the San Francisco Republican Party, writes in a San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece.
The Democrats' plan would "more than double" SCHIP spending and include coverage for "middle-income children and young adults up to 25 from families earning $82,000 annually," Epstein writes.
Epstein writes that a single-payer, government-run health care system "has not worked well in other countries" and that thousands of "children and young adults who currently are covered by private health insurance would migrate to the government program."
"Why panic now?" Epstein continues, adding, "The program will not run out of money until June." He concludes, "The Democrats should continue to work on funding the SCHIP program for poor children, as intended, and leave the social engineering for another day" (Epstein, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/27).