On GOP Concerns that Middle-Income Families Will Be Enrolled in SCHIP, Speaker Pelosi said…I'm not convinced...
“No one making over 300 percent of poverty, no state, can receive – can allow people to receive the benefits of SCHIP. There is a cap of 300 percent of poverty as to who may receive the benefit.”
…But CBO says
Despite the Majority’s claims of a “fix” for the problem of enrolling more higher-income children in SCHIP, CBO still projects that only 800,000 currently SCHIP-eligible but unenrolled children will sign up for SCHIP by FY 2012 under this bill. In contrast, CBO says that 1.1 million people with incomes too high to be eligible for SCHIP today will be enrolled by FY 2012 due to the “expansion of SCHIP and Medicaid eligibility to new populations” caused by the “new” bill. Moreover, the bill also contains an “income disregard loophole,” which allows states to define “family income” as they see fit and intentionally ignore tens of thousands of dollars worth of income for purposes of SCHIP eligibility. This loophole could permit a family earning more than 300 percent of the poverty level to receive benefits. In fact, under the bill, a family of five in New Jersey making $84,455 per year would still be eligible for SCHIP.
On GOP Concerns that Illegal Immigrants Will Be Enrolled in SCHIP, Speaker Pelosi said…
“Secondly, the question of undocumenteds. Those people who are in our country but are not – have not been – here a length of time that would qualify. So the undocumenteds are one category. The undocumented are not allowed to receive – undocumented are not allowed to receive benefits from this.”
…But CBO says
Despite the Majority’s claims of a “fix” for the illegal immigration issue in their “new” bill, CBO projects that Section 211 of the bill will still result in $3.7 billion in increased federal spending over the next 10 years. Section 211 eliminates the requirement that individuals must provide specified documents to establish that they are citizens and therefore eligible to participate in SCHIP. In its place, it requires states to check names and Social Security numbers of applicants against a Social Security Administration database. This would neither assure that the person submitting the name and Social Security number is who they say they are, nor would it bar an individual from fraudulently using another person’s valid name and matching SSN to obtain Medicaid or SCHIP benefits.
On GOP Concerns that Adults Will Be Enrolled in SCHIP, Speaker Pelosi said…
“And third, the issue of adults. Adults were in the program because people thought as a lure to families they could get children in the program. Republicans objected to that. There was an exaggeration of the number of adults who are in the program. Nonetheless, in the interest of the children the new legislation contains a provision that adults under one circumstance will be phased out in two years, and another circumstance in one year.”
…But CBO says
Despite the Majority’s claims of a “fix” that for the issue of adults on SCHIP, CBO still projects that up to 10 percent of the enrollees in SCHIP will be adults in FY 2012. Though the legislation phases childless adults out of the program within one year, parents are still eligible permanently. With 700,000 adults currently enrolled in SCHIP – even though a half million eligible children are not currently enrolled in the program – the fact that the Majority’s “new” bill explicitly allows SCHIP to continue ensuring adults is irresponsible.
10/26 UPDATE: Ask and you shall receive... The link to the CBO letter quoted above is here. Further information is available in this letter. And the original source material can be found here.
