SCHIP

In her post earlier this week about the debate about the future of the State Children's Health Insurance Program under health reform, Allison Levy mentioned the challenge of low Medicaid payment rates to doctors -- so low that many doctors won't take Medicaid payments. So while Medicaid on paper has a better benefit package than SCHIP, it's hard for low-income people to get those benefits if they don't have a doctor willing to take Medicaid patients.

Nineteenth birthdays are usually not particularly scary occasions. But for Brittany Hunsaker, turning 19 made her one day too old to qualify for the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP), the state-sponsored health insurance program for low-income children ineligible for Medicaid.

Just hours after receiving final approval in the House by a margin of 145 votes, legislation reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program has been signed into law by President Obama.

By a margin of 290–135, the House gave final approval today to legislation reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program through Fiscal Year 2013.

The devil, we're told, is in the details. We would have said Prada, but if you asked where the details matter most, we think you can make a strong argument for the programs of Medicaid and SCHIP.

First, there's the combination of state and federal funding that makes budgeting Byzantine. Add an array of eligibility, enrollment, and verification requirements. The result is a labyrinth fit for a Minotaur, yet often overwhelming to the populations these programs are intended to serve.

Welcome back.

Yes we noticed that President Barack Obama mentioned health care in his inaugural address. We were pleased, but not surprised. He's made clear that health reform is a priority.

Americans want health reform. They want coverage expansion and insurance reform. As long as they can keep the health plan they have now, save money, and finance it all by taxing an upper income smoker. You know, like that guy on the Monopoly board.

They also want to fill the Medicare drug benefit doughnut hole, cover kids, and provide more care to our veterans. By taxing that same rich smoker.

Legislation that would reauthorize SCHIP over the next 4 ½ years passed the House of Representatives by a margin of 289 to 139 votes today (Wednesday). HR 2 would provide an additional $32.3 billion in funding to the program, increasing enrollment from 6.7 million to nearly 11 million children.

If the headlines aren’t depressing enough for you, here’s more glum news. States are slashing health services to poor people at such rapid rates that even a federal rescue package might not be able to restore services, the LA Times reports.

We asked Leif Wellington Haase, director of New America's California Program, and Micah Weinberg, a research fellow in the California program, to fill us in on the latest developments on health care in California, particularly the possible cuts to funding the state’s Healthy Family Program for low income kids.