Garden State Leads In Battle To Overturn New SCHIP Limits

Congress has sent President Bush a SCHIP authorization extension bill. Bush has threatened to veto the bill, H.R. 976, arguing that it is too expensive and could expand public insurance for children in ways that might crowd out employer-sponsored dependent care benefits.

“President Bush believes that SCHIP should return to it’s original focus, which is helping those children in need,” White House officials say.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has agreed to join with New Jersey in the battle against the Bush administration’s approach to setting SCHIP income guidelines.

Other states that say they will join the battle include Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and Washington, officials say.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., New York, who is still receiving medical care himself in connection with a near-fatal automobile accident that took place in April, issued a statement saying the Bush administration approach to setting SCHIP income limits would force New Jersey to drop coverage for about 10,000 New Jersey children.

“SCHIP is an unqualified bipartisan success in New Jersey and in states across the nation, and the Bush administration’s determination to pursue a course of action that will harm our children’s health is incomprehensible,” Corzine says in the statement. “This same administration previously signed off on our decision to cover the 10,000 kids; they are now seeking to kick out of SCHIP, and the lawsuit we filed today demonstrates that we will simply not let that happen.”