Burnt Orange Report

KBH Editorial on CHIP

By Byron LaMasters

She basically blasts Rick Perry and the legislature for cutting the CHIP program without explicitly saying so. It was in Saturday's Houston Chronicle:

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), created in 1997, provides federally matched funds to states with insurance programs for low-income children. The program is designed to provide preventive care, annual doctor visits, vaccinations and developmental screenings that may well prevent children from being rushed to emergency rooms for routine needs. The recipients are low-income working families that have slightly higher income than allowed under Medicaid. In most cases, their employers do not offer insurance, and they have difficulty paying for it directly.

CHIP requires cooperation between the state and federal government. In 2005, for example, for every dollar the state puts into CHIP, the federal government will provide $2.65 in matching funds. (This program is particularly beneficial to state health systems, because the match is greater than Medicaid. For every state Medicaid dollar, the federal government supplies $1.56.)

I'm concerned that, despite the best efforts of our congressional delegation, Texas has not maximized its use of CHIP to support our state health care system. Since 2000, Texas has turned back about $700 million in unused federal funds to the U.S. Treasury, and those funds are now being used by other states, to help their working families pay for health insurance. In the recently ended fiscal year, the Congressional Research Service estimates Texas turned back more than $50 million in unused federal funds.

This money should be used to assist our county hospitals and the property taxpayers who fund them. Dr. Ray Perryman, an economist, has concluded that whenever Texas fails to take full advantage of Medicaid and CHIP, the state's economy is weakened. For every state dollar removed from these plans, he notes, local taxes must rise by 51 cents, insurance premiums on those with coverage must rise by about $1.33, and retail sales decline by almost two dollars. Perryman suggests the state treasury is also an ultimate loser, because the decreased economic activity causes a drop in state tax revenue.

As a matter of simple fiscal conservatism, I hope Texas will, in the future, take full advantage of available federal matching funds to bolster our state health care system, and relieve increasing pressure on taxpayers who fund county hospitals. CHIP, given the available federal match, makes sense for our children's health and economic sense for our taxpayers.

I mean, if the Texas legislature doesn't take advantage of the federal tax dolars we're entitled to through the CHIP program, it'll go to a bunch of liberals out here in California or something. Is that what the Texas GOP wants?

More at Rick Perry vs. the World, Off the Kuff and Greg's Opinion.