Why would Republicans go after children's health insurance?
By Richard Kirsch, contributor
With Republican presidential candidates trumpeting their concern about the struggles of working and middle-class families, why would congressional leadership undermine the wildly popular Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)?
CHIP is that rare social program where success is celebrated by both Republicans and Democrats. Governors across the political spectrum support the program, which gives states flexibility in design while the federal Treasury pays an average of 88 percent of costs. By covering 5.8 million children, whose parents don't get children's health coverage at work but earn too much for Medicaid, CHIP has dramatically cut the proportion of uninsured children, providing them with good coverage and their parents with affordable premiums and low out-of-pocket costs.
When the Affordable Care Act was passed, CHIP supporters in Congress made sure that the new healthcare law did not interfere with CHIP's success. The ACA kept CHIP in place, with a provision that Congress would review CHIP in 2015. With its history of bipartisan support, supporters hoped that renewing CHIP would not become controversial. It turns out that was too much too hope for.
In late February, Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Fred Upton (R-Mich.) published a discussion draft that would endanger the health of at least 1 million children enrolled in CHIP while raising costs to states.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/235015-why-would-republicans-go-after-childrens-health-insurance
Answer: Because they are evil, heartless bastards.
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