Families earning 150%-300% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and seeking health coverage for their children would pay much more through an administration-proposed tax subsidy than they would under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, according to a new study by the Urban Institute. Under a Bush administration proposal to offer parents tax deductions to offset the costs of private health insurance, a two-parent, two-child family earning 250% of FPL (about $54,000 per year) “would still spend more than a fifth of their income on private non-group health coverage to obtain comparable benefits to what they could obtain for their children under SCHIP for 1% of their income,” the authors estimate.
The financial burden for single-parent families with one child would be even greater, they add. The president recently vetoed legislation (H.R. 976) that would reauthorize SCHIP and increase funding to cover an additional 4 million uninsured children. The bill also would roll back new administration rules that limit the ability of states to cover children above 250% of the FPL. The House is expected to hold a veto override vote this week.
[ via AHA News Now ]
