Washington – There are fewer low-income, uninsured children than previously believed, and that means tripling federal funding for a children’s health-insurance program is unnecessary, the Bush administration said Monday in touting a new study.
Democrats have made expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, a priority. The politically popular program is set to expire Sept. 30. It serves children in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but not high enough typically to afford private insurance.
Democratic lawmakers want to triple its funding, an increase of $50 billion over five years. The administration has said an increase of $5 billion is sufficient. Democratic lawmakers said the study, which was released shortly before the Senate Finance Committee was to take up legislation to renew the program, is flawed.
The Urban Institute estimated that about 4.9 million children under the age of 19 were uninsured for the entire year. That’s a much lower estimate than the one compiled by the Census Bureau, which counts more than 8 million uninsured children.
The report’s authors said the primary difference between their estimate and the one that comes from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey stems from the survey’s underreporting of families that participate in government-sponsored health insurance – Medicaid or SCHIP.
