Dave Camp: “Mr. Speaker, this bill clearly isn't about helping low-income children. If it were, it would have support from both…”

“Mr. Speaker, this bill clearly isn't about helping low-income children. If it were, it would have support from both parties and the President would be eagerly waiting to sign it into law. This is a missed opportunity. Virtually everyone supports providing health insurance to low-income children. But when a Federal health program for children starts covering not only families, but childless adults making three and four times the poverty level, it has clearly lost its focus. It is clear that Democrats want taxpayers to fund, and the Federal Government to directly provide, health care benefits to millions of more Americans, even for those families making over $80,000 a year. They are using SCHIP as a vehicle and the children it is intended to cover as a shield to get one step closer to total Government control over our health care system. The current plan to expand SCHIP is in dire need of a second opinion. Instead of moving further and further away from the core mission, we should be reforming the program to ensure it is truly helping America's uninsured children. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office stipulates that the proposed expansion would cover an additional 5.8 million Americans at a cost of $35 billion. Alarmingly, more than one out of every three individuals already has private insurance.…”