Subcommitte on Health Hearing Debates Medical Coverage for Uninsured Children

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) chaired a House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing focused on providing affordable healthcare for uninsured children. The witness panel called into question included five governors from different regions of the country, providing the committee with a diverse group of state leaders to comment on the progress made by the Bush Administration in regard to healthcare.

The progress of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was hotly debated. The purpose of SCHIP is to provide uninsured children whose parents make too much money to qualify for Medicaid with health coverage. Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS) was particularly adamant about reforming SCHIP, arguing that providing affordable coverage for children was growing increasingly more difficult as a result of state funding simply not providing enough money to finance such initiatives.

The benefits of programs such as SCHIP are evident. At the same time, as some such as Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) pointed out, the success of the program has been limited and reforming legislation is necessary to ensuring the success of future government healthcare programs. Children are not the only ones who suffer from unaffordable healthcare, Shadegg explained, as the cost of healthcare is an issue that affects all Americans.

While President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and limits in government spending have come under fire in recent months, concerns about the lack of funding for healthcare programs have grown to be an increasingly important, and controversial, issue for Americans to debate.