Grassley And Hatch Blast Children's Health Veto Rumors

Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee want to spend an extra $50 billion, Grassley and Hatch say.

President Bush has proposed providing only $5 billion in additional funding and making commercial health insurance more affordable by changing the tax code.

“What the administration needs to understand is that if a bipartisan plan isn’t achieved, then the Democratic-controlled Congress will, at the very least, extend the current program with all the terrible policy provisions that have evolved, such as waivers for childless adults and coverage for higher-income kids,” Grassley and Hatch say.

If the Democrats simply extend the current program, that would add $24 billion in costs to the current baseline of $25 billion, and, if the Democrats pull away from efforts to negotiate a compromise, they could pass a bill that would add $50 billion in new costs, Grassley and Hatch warn.

Grassley and Hatch express support for the idea of reforming tax treatment of health insurance costs. “But it’s not realistic — given the lack of bipartisan support for the president’s plan — to think that can be accomplished by next week or even before the current children’s health care program runs out in September,” Grassley and Hatch say.