House Approves SCHIP Bill

“This is not just about helping low-income children,” said Rep. James McCrery, R-La., the most senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. “This bill today seems to be spending government funds to lure middle class, upper middle class, even wealthy, perhaps, families, to opt out of private health coverage and go to government health coverage.”

The White House issued a statement indicating that President Bush will veto H.R. 3162 if it reaches his desk in its current form.

The bill “clearly favors government-run health care over private health insurance,” and spends far too much money, officials say in the statement.

John Greene, a lobbyist for the National Association of Health Insurers, Arlington, Va., called the Medicare Advantage marketing rules in H.R. 3162 “overkill.”

NAHU and other health insurance groups already are working with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo., to develop efforts to root out bad marketing practices, Greene said.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, Washington, says 3 million older Americans could lose Medicare Advantage coverage if Medicare Advantage critics succeed at restricting program funding.

About 49% of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries have incomes of less than $20,000 per year, and the cuts included in H.R. 3162 “would have a devastating impact on seniors’ health security,” AHIP President Karen Ignagni says.