The End Game is to destroy the country as Bannon professed and that includes kids healthcare. The G.O.P. are cutting SNAP or foods stamps. 1.7 million veterans live in households that participated in SNAP (formerly food stamps). So much for those patriotic Republicans that profess to be pro-life, family oriented folks.
For 75 years, it was said that Roosevelt's New Deal saved capitalism. By softening the rough edges of the free market capitalism with reforms such as social security and unemployment insurance, FDR may have prevented adoption of much more radical changes.
75 years from today it is unlikely that anyone will think Obama saved market-priced medical care. Rather, he only prolonged it, and that will not be thought of as a good thing. In the developed world, market-priced medical care still exists only in the USA. It is only a matter of time until market-priced medical care joins communism, slavery, racial segregation and fascism as systems that no longer exist in developed nations.
The USA is the last holdout with market-priced medical care not only because of any inherent conservative or free market ideology. Rather, as the wealthiest nation that ever existed we are the last ones who can afford it. Switzerland was one of the last advanced economies to abandon market-priced medical care. It is arguably a greater bastion of conservatism than the USA. Switzerland's women were not granted the right to vote until 1971.
No nation even the USA, can allow markets to set the prices of medical care indefinitely demand for medical care is inelastic. Consequently in every developed country in the world, all goods or services with inelastic demand have their prices regulated by government. Medical care in the USA being the only exception..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1647632
1
'Bah hambug. Are their no workhouses? No orphanages? Let them die and decrease the surplus population..."
Trumpublicans plan for American children
"Bring back the glory days of slavery"
Roy Moore plans for Alabama
"Put the Betty's back in the bedroom or the kitchen and stop all this fuss about groping"
Republicans plans for American women
2
As is the sad norm for the GOP, getting off their lazy butts to do anything if their vote is not paid for is a low priority. Nothing in CHIPs for Ryan or McConnell monetarily and thus their attitude is "so what if poor kids suffer and die while we go out to lunch." Even Colorado's Senator Gardner, who generally cares nothing for kids, has tried to push a vote but has been blocked by McConnell. In the words of our disgusting so-called President: sad, so sad. Folks: we need to make America Great Again by giving the FOP its walking papers come November.
4
Get serious. Congressional Republicans are too busy sucking up to the plutocrats to worry about low-income children's health needs.
3
I am done talking with Republicans and Trumpites. They are frankly stupid and beneath contempt. Their world is one of authoritarianism and self interest, not empiricism and egalitarianism.
Let's turn the tables in 2018, 2020, and dump this crew of human refuse in the dustbin of history. Voting is the best revenge.
6
The 1% have seized the government and have essentially cut the rest of the people out.
The 1% have all the money, and don't want to be part of the "former" US.
They want the rest of the country to be subservient to them.
This won't get any better unless the people literally rise up.
The current ruling class clearly only serves themselves.
5
It's a shame that the NY Times spent all summer and fall repeating the attacks from the far right and far left that "Hillary Clinton is a tool of the right wingers so you shouldn't believe she will fight for anything on her very progressiveplatform because she is a liar".
Maybe if there was less NY Times coverage of "More incriminating e-mails revealed!" and more coverage of all of the progressive ideas that Clinton fought for, these governors wouldn't have to be fighting for this program.
It always astonishes me when the NY Times tries after the fact to correct all the harm their fear of the right wing attacks have caused.
3
This just makes me sick to my stomach. The Republicans are holding America's children hostages - no different than terrorists placing their "camps" inside of schools and hospitals and daring the "enemy" to strike them with bombs and bullets. How low can they possibly sink - threatening the health and welfare of millions of our most precious resource, our children. For shame, my fellow Americans. For shame!
4
This is what Senators Gillibrand, Schumer, Booker, Warren and other Democrats should be focusing on rather than throwing each other under the bus.
4
Dear Republican Congress:
When Jesus said, "Suffer the little children...", he had something else in mind.
6
Only a sick and depraved society sacrifices the well-being of its CHILDREN to line the pockets of the greedy.
5
Sorry governors but why spend money on the children of those who spend theirs on "booze, women and movies". Republicans are slowly getting their way on death panels.
3
Save the children.
3
Gov. Baker: You care whether poor children live or die. So you probably already know the question I need to ask you. I understand why you became a Republican many years ago, but why are you a Republican today?
7
Los Angeles can budget money to pay for lawyers for the city's illegals facing deportation but they can't pay to buy health insurance for the city's children?
Sanctuary city, indeed...
2
CHIPS IS NOT THE SOLUTION. it's a state boondoggle using children as a cover. I have no sympathy for this.
3
'Please save kids' health care'? That's no way to put it. It should read "Save kids' healthcare. Or else."
It's no surprise that Republicans are evil fools in prioritizing tax cutting for the rich over health care for poor kids. What is a surprise is the ability of Mr. Baker to write this column while remaining a Republican. What are we to believe--his noble words or his deeds in remaining aligned with this disgusting excuse for a political party?
3
Healthcare is an investment in our nation's future.
2
The Republican answer is "If they cannot afford health care for their children, they shouldn't have any." This goes along with abstinence only sex "education" and unrelenting hostility to contraception.
This Republican bubble of ineptitude, cruelty, and cravenness is about to burst, and whatever damage the party suffers will be thoroughly well-deserved.
3
Having had a dear sister who died of a ruptured Appendix at the age of seven, I am particularly concerned that Congress act on the issue of children's health. Please save CHIP. Save our children!
4
Thank you to this bipartisan effort to retain the CHIP. May your voices be heard, and heeded!
2
Two Republican Governors out of 34 registering concern about the party they support? But why submit this plea to the Liberal New York Times, rather than say the Heritage Foundation, Christianity Today-- or any number of other Republican-leaning sites? You don't have to convince us of GOP malice- we already know.
6
The red states don't belief in redistribution. Better to have children get sick, maybe die, than take money from the makers and give it to the takers. Let local and state governments foot the bill for free health services if they think it is a good idea. Why should the federal government impose some standard of child health care on its citizens?
1
Sorry Governors, too late. Haven't you heard Senator Orrin Hatch say that there is no money anymore. All the money has gone to pay for the suffering filthy rich. If the children of the poor suffered, well that is too bad. Their parents should have been more careful and not spend all their earnings on stuff like booze, etc. - ask Senator Grassley
5
Who would have ever have thought that in the year 2017 you would have to write this plea.
3
Why wasn't the CHIP program immediately rolled into Obamacare to save a couple $billion a year? The same goes for DACA, why aren't all of the dreamers and their parents enrolled and forced, by threat of a fine, to have health insurance through Obamacare to save another few $billions per year?
Haves v havenots. The strange thing is that the GOP has attracted so many havenots. Go figure....
1
“Bipartisan strategies to reauthorize CHIPS...”
Excuse me?
BOTH parties are implicated in the failure to reauthorize CHIPS?
Amazingly discouraging with this relatively small group of right wing nut cases controlling and destroying so many lives. They are, in the name of some poorly stated cause that is irrational, willingly taking away health care for kids. Congrats to Mr. Paul Ryan and Mr. Mitch McConnell who rank right up there with the worst of the human rights violators in book. Thanks guys. Oh, many thanks also to creepy Mr. Trump for this one. If there is one thing about this tragedy it may be this: some of the kids of the people who actually put Trump and his kind into office will be without health care....all things can even out just a bit. Maybe those fools who elected Trump and his gang can struggle even more to cover their kids' care and stop using the system for their benefit. Maybe these backward folk should form their own nation where kids go sick, hungry, homeless while the wealthy get wealthier. McConnell how about paying back the money that was used on your medical care when you had polio to the foundation or its successor so that other kids can get help now...how about it you capitalist loving person.
3
Please voters. Take a good look at what Republicans stand for (tax cuts for the wealthy) and what they won't stand up for (children's health care) or stand against (a credibly accused pedophile running for the US Senate). The midterms of 2018 can't come fast enough.
1
Don't worry.
After Roy Moore gets seated, the Senate will be offering free paediatric physicals starting in January.
All you have to do is bring in your underaged daughter and he'll give her a complete and thorough check-up.
All for free!
And I'm sure we can find another lawmaker that'll do the same for boys.
Innovative, exceptional American healthcare at its best.
3
First you ruin the lives of children (but make sure you birth a bunch first, since the GOP doesn't want to pay for your contraception either). Next up are the old folks. Coming after your Medicare and Social Security in the name of deficits. So now the middle age adults will have two generations to support as they sink lower and lower into poverty. What a great country.
1
I'm done appealing to the Trumpists to do the decent thing and not yank healthcare away from poor kids.
I'm just going to vote every single one of them out of office.
3
The GOP members of Congress are stunningly inept. A country that does not invest in the health of its children reaps the results of that decision 20-30 years down the road. The current Congress has benefited from public health decisions made decades ago. Now, they're snatching healthcare from babies.
If you disagree with the GOP's actions, do something: vote them out in 2018.
1
As an ESL teacher in Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia and New Jersey I taught refugees, asylum seekers and children of undocumented workers in Title I public schools. In each place I touted the CHIP Program (after I realized it had nothing to do with the Erik Estrada/Larry Wilcox late 70's motorcycle show). Once enrolled, the students and families really and truly benefited by this program. A significant number were able to have a dental, eye or physical exam when they otherwise weren't able to afford it. The reason being, a majority of them worked jobs where benefits such as "health insurance" didn't exist- working 2 or 3 part-time gigs. As a result, if I noticed a student straining day after day to see the board, I knew to refer them to CHIP. A week or two later, they were eagerly wearing a new pair of specs. When a student winced in pain over a toothache, I could get out my CHIP brochure, application and have their parents fill it out. Boom! The next day they could go to a dentist and then return to my classroom, pain free. It is reasonable, simple and effective. Why, on earth, would the federal government look to defund it? Sure some states could pick up the tab for the program in total, but think about the cash strapped states such as Louisiana or Mississippi. The already poorly supported public schools there would just suffer more and see their students fall further behind. Is saving a few bucks worth the expense of our neediest, tempest-tossed masses?
4
Congressional leaders allowing CHIP to expire and having no replacement plan, no mention of a replacement plan, no seeming concern at all for CHIP is one of the least mentioned and most shameful acts they have done this year. It is beyond hypocritical how the GOP touts its record for 'acting for the unborn' and then has absolutely NO regard for babies after they are born. Orrin Hatch saying that he doesn't think the rest of America should pay for people who won't work for themselves is galling in its cruelty. No matter how hardworking, or lazy, resourceful or feckless parents might be, CHILDREN deserve to have fundamental healthcare in this country. Nothing, NOTHING this government does will ever make America great if we leave our children behind.
PLEASE REINSTATE CHIP.
2
We live live in a very sick country that takes from the young, the elderly, the poor, and now even the middle class to give to a handful of millionaires and billionaires.
And all because the Republicans fear their donors won’t take their calls.
Very sick indeed.
4
Unfortunately this reasonable plea will fall on deaf ears. Republican congresspeople don't care about children. None of these children vote, none contribute to campaigns, none are lobbyists, and I'd bet a good many aren't even white.
The Republican goal is to make the rich richer, and this has nothing to do with that. So watch and see, CHIP will be eliminated, and America will stop helping its own children. It's a horrible nation we live in now, and it can only get worse from here, until Republicans are out of power.
2
No one complains that we are all required to carry auto insurance, and yet when anyone says we should all have health insurance, people start squealing about big government and individual rights.
Individuals have the right not to go bankrupt when a family member is sick. Protecting us doesn't mean keeping middle-eastern terrorists out, it means keeping us financially secure in case of catastrophic health problems.
2
Republicans want people to have unwanted and unplanned for children, but do not want those children properly cared for once they are born. Republicans don't support children's (or their parents') healthcare, schooling, housing, protection from gun violence or sexual predators. They don't support wage increases so parents can adequately support children.
This is contemptible.
2
A number of states cover orthodontic treatment for children on Medicaid. My strong opinion is that in only a tiny percentage of these cases should treatment be covered. This is a great deal of money that could expand necessary dental treatment and medical treatment for those in need of it.
3
Thanks for the opinion, but what backs it up? Are you a budget analyst, a dentist, a professor that has studied this issue?
2
Nothing is stopping these states from raising their own taxes to pay for the program. States and the federal government have the same tax base. Even without the SALT tax deductions, voters are free to decide how much they are willing to pay in state taxes. There's no good justification for the federal government to take tax money and transfer it to the states when the states can raise that income themselves. The situation we have right now just leads to the centralization of power, and constant high stakes battles in congress that could be resolved at the state level.
3
So what you're saying is, let children in poor states suffer. Because they're children, so the heck with them.
2
I am floored that Republican governors Baker and Sandoval, (both of whose states went for Clinton in the election and whose citizens are therefore of no interest to Trump) would believe that Republicans in congress would respond to their arguments. Where have they been all this time? Bipartisanship went out the door shortly after Obama was elected and Republicans have only benefitted. CHIP helps people in need? Which part of the call for lower taxes, the evil that results from the reliance on the Federal gov't and the warnings about the ruinous cost of federal programs did these governors miss? Should Republicans abandon their principle of self reliance, their conviction about the evils of the welfare state breeding dependency, their concerns about out of control gov't spending and the debt? Should they renege on their promises to the "job creators", and punish them for their success?
Their hands are tied, sirs. They can't let one or two sob stories affect their decisions. Medical care is not free, and if these governors believe so strongly in providing it, then let them volunteer to pay more taxes. Right?
At 15 billion dollars for 8.9 million children, that is $1685 per child per year. The money is not given to the families directly. Spending on CHIP, it rotates itself into the economy by providing jobs in the healthcare industry. It contributes to a stable local economy where there may not be many other things.
5
This is not even a bipartisan issue. It is a humanitarian one. Does EVERYTHING have to be political?
7
Why was there not one word by the writer about how the loss of insurance payments will hurt hospitals - especially small and rural ones? An important, and often overlooked issue.
3
For an average European, this sounds much like the dystopian fantasy of a sci-fi thriller. Hard to believe this is supposed to be reality anywhere in the developed world.
10
Deduct the cost from the Department Defense budget.
3
Oh sorry. Congress has been too busy trying to give rich people tax cuts and lying to the American people that the tax cut is actually meaningful to lower and middle class. Social programs and children? Please. As if Congress cares.
4
CHIP is very popular, so I don't think Congress has any real intention of getting rid of it. This is just a cynical play. Pretend to threaten CHIP and let Trump or some other old boys come galloping to the rescue.
Children don't vote. Plus, from Trump's perspective, if Hillary created it, it has to go.
The only people being played here are the ones who keep believing that Republicans genuinely care about people that the free market is not interested in serving.
7
It is necessary to remove Republicans from their offices through the peaceful process of elections so that children may receive food and medical care .
There is no excuse for their policies of feed the rich and starve the poor.
3
Hillary Clinton helped create this program. I can't imagine her thoughts on this truly diabolical deal the GOP has made to reward millionaires and deny poor children.
It's truly Dickensian....
1
Sorry, but this protest is coming way too late. The Republican party is currently in the grips of a lethal combination of conspirancy minded opponents of federal gov't, Ayn Rand free market absolutists who believe taxation is a form enslavement and banker/business types who would never, ever let their personal feelings of compassion get in the way of the bottom line. This takeover happened gradually, then with Trump's election, seemingly all at once. There were many signals all along the way - the Republicans budget passed under Bush, their refusal to cooperate with Hank Paulson in addressing the financial crisis, the shift of the party leadership to the right, their opposition to the healthcare mandate and their attempt to redefine healthcare reform as a way for healthy people to pay less in premiums, their refusal to expand Medicaid within their states.
And when the base nominated a man who had spent 4 years baldly lying about Obama's birth certificate, when the Republican leadership failed to take a stand against this lie, because they benefited from his other lies and innuendos about Hillary and the emails, Hillary and the uranium deal, Hillary and the Clinton charity - even then, so many "moderate" Republicans refused to endorse Hillary, playing into Trump's hand.
And now these profiles in courage are taking a bold stand in the NY Times, the fake news, as it were. Shouldn't this article be in the WSJ. If it's not on Fox, Trump supporters won't even see it.
25
Thank you for writing such a cogent and reasonable explanation for why we need CHIP refunded. It's wonderful to have democrats and republicans working together for the common good. If we don't take care of our children, what kind of nation are we? Congress, take care of our most vulnerable and refund CHIP.
27
Cathleen, What is the point of making this explanation? Experienced Republicans in congress certainly know what CHIP does, and most likely so do readers of the NY Times. Furthermore, do you honestly believe that the Republicans in Congress care what NY Times readers think?
Republicans have long made very clear that taxes on the wealthy need to go and the safety net needs to shrink. Their protests against the ACA invoking "death panels" and their proposals for reducing benefits that involve phasing in 10 or 20 years down the road make it very clear that Republicans are well aware that seniors vote. Unlike children.
All they are doing here is furthering the fiction that the Republican party stands for something other than what it actually stands for, and that it is simply being misguided and that it is amenable to reason. It enables people to rationalize their support for Republican candidates who are nominally more reasonable people than Donald Trump, say, even if they end up supporting Trump's agenda.
The fact is, it's is too late to change the Republican party from within. It must change from without, and Governor's like Baker and Sandoval would make more of a statement by declaring themselves independent.
2
Isn't this the same plan the Democrats proposed eliminating in 2010 in favor of putting kids on exchanges, or, worse yet, dumping them into Medicaid? http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/114367-future-of-childrens-health-p...
If so, then a pox on everyone in DC, Republican and Democrat. Our children are our most precious resource. Yet pediatricians are shamefully reimbursed for their services compared to adult physicians when they should be paid equally.
Stop treating our children like pawns. We have Medicare for adults, and maybe it is time to have the same for children, too.
9
Give it at year. We won't have Medicare for adults either.
5
SHAME ! SHAME ! SHAME ! GOP the party of the 1% , the vampire sucking the blood of 9 millions American children.
19
Come on now! None of those kids or their parents are big donors to the GOP.
The class war is over. The billionaires won.
47
Pleas to the Republican majority in Congress from Democratic governors (and Charlie Baker is a Massachusetts Republican, which is a Democrat anywhere else in the country) will fall on deaf ears, regardless of the topic. If children would just take responsibility for their health, we wouldn't need to spend money on them. If they choose to get sick or have a chronic condition, they should just get a job with benefits, or buy insurance on their own!! Wealthy people in this country need relief from taxes, and that is the only issue that the majority party is interested in, for now. Next year, they'll get on fully dismantling the safety net for those of us who foolishly chose not to be rich.
36
Sarah hits the nail on the head. The Republicans in Congress have preferred to cut taxes on the rich than fund CHIP. We should be ashamed.
1
It would seem the Koch Brothers don't care about children's health, so the GOP are powerless to do anything to help. Sorry about that, but these kids chose the wrong parents. There is no way they can help.
Now, let's talk about those Evangelical millionaires....
20
The mock horror of the writer below would be better spent attempting to understand the program - as it clearly states in the article below, the CHIP program is a federal subsidy to existing state programs in order to help the states provide care to kids in families that are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford insurance otherwise.
Adding to the comments of the second to last contributor, I would point out that the Republican congress - acting alone without democratic input - may take away the tax deduction for charitable giving, which would undoubtedly decrease these contributions below current levels.
5
The United States is the only industrialized rich nation without a nationalized universal Healthcare system which covers everyone’s health care from birth to grave. This is solved easily except for the active resistance of health insurance corporations, pharmaceutical industry, medical equipment manufacturers, and most importantly the powerful passive resistance of Hospital Corporations and their powerful doctors in medical administration. If American doctors really wanted universal healthcare, (which includes everyone, children and all) you would have it. Ask your doctor - you’re hear them blame everyone else, except themselves of course.
4
Excuse me, Timothy, but I am a medical doctor and I think that nationalized universal healthcare is the only reasonable approach for the U.S. Many of my friends and associates in the medical field most certainly agree.
9
With all due respect, doctors who choose to be mere employees -- and per your NPI data, you were one, although presumably you are retired or retireable now -- are a big part of the problem.
Too many of you have given up your professional autonomy to be part of the medical behemoth. Unless and until you and the majority of your profession recapture your independence as part of the three-legged stool of healthcare, the status quo will not change, although physicians' incomes will continue to decline to the benefit of the bumbling, incompetent hospital administrators and insurance company lackeys who will find every way they can too supplant you with less-qualified midlevel "providers."
1
Medical prices are controlled in various ways in the rest of the developed world. In Japan, all medical care prices are listed in a book. The prices set in the book are usually less than a third of those in the USA. Japanese insurance companies are private as are most doctors. Japan spends less than a third per capita on medical care than America. However, the Japanese are greater consumers of medical care than Americans. They visit doctors and hospitals more often, have much more diagnostic tests such as MRIs. They also have better health outcomes as measured by all metrics such as life expectancy. They also wait less for treatment than Americans do as Japanese doctors work much longer hours for their much lower incomes.
Japan's explicit price controls are roughly emulated in other countries via the use monopsonistic systems. Monopsony, meaning "single buyer" is the flip side of monopoly. A monopolist sets prices above free market equilibrium. A monopsonist sets prices below free market equilibrium. It does not matter if there is an actual single payer or many buyers (or payers) whose prices are set by the government or by insurance companies in collusion with each other. More competition among sellers generally leads to lower prices. However, more competition among buyers leads to higher prices. In the health insurance industry the beneficial effects of more insurance companies competing for patients are far outweighed by the ad..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1647632
1
Infant mortality is higher in the U.S. than in any other highly developed country.
Without CHIP even more infants will die.
Has Congress and the President lost all sense of morality and decency?
23
Wrong question because it equates ALL of congress with this.
Only Republicans stand in the way. Democrats all favor funding CHIP and most want it expanded.
There is no question where the Republicans and trump stand. They have no morals, values, humanity or basic decency. If it cost a billionaire one red cent to save an American citizen they are against it.
2
Republicans in Congress and Trump have not lost all sense of morality and decency, because from all the evidence, they never had any of either.
Yes, in fact, seems like that ship has sailed.
1
Has there ever been a Republican Congress with less empathy in its members for the most vulnerable among us? These elected officials are parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and yet can accept the idea that millions of other people’s children and babies could suffer from lack of decent healthcare in the richest nation in the world. As a mother and a grandmother and a human being it is simply incomprehensible to me that we allow such cruel and heartless individuals to hold power over us. It sickens me to the core.
56
This is the "deconstruction" Bannon so joyfully talked about. He and Ryan have an Ayn Rand dystopian society in mind for this country. This is but the first step of many to come under their tutelage, and Trump is the stooge who will facilitate it.
31
Yes, let's continue to give everything to everyone through mandatory government programs. I believe Russia and China have similar programs.
2
So you want to let children die but support spending $150 billion for EACH F-22 fighter.
You are morally bankrupt.
17
So does every other wealthy western country except the United States. Don't let children suffer because of some pitiless philosophy.
2
They don't.
However, the civilized world does. People everywhere except in the Republican party understand that CHILDREN do no choose the parents they are born to.
1
From a single mom with two kids on CHIP, thank you! Without CHIP, I can't afford to insure my kids. The loss of the program would be a huge hit to us. I can't help but see incredible irony that the party that wants to curtail women's reproductive choices does not care whether children are healthy, sheltered, fed, and generally well cared for. Instead we are told that we don't deserve help because we aren't doing enough. We are told the wealthy are the true generators of all that is good. This makes me sick! In my community I see hard working people barely getting by. I see people who are just getting by volunteering more of their time to improve their community. We're told we're "not lifting a finger" when in fact we're barely catching a breath, let alone a break.
41
Dear GOP Governors:
You should send this letter to R-Senator Hatch who said about CHIP “he has trouble spending billions and trillions on people that won’t help themselves”.
Unfortunately children can’t donate to GOP super PACs, maybe then Mr. Hatch and other Republican lawmakers would change their mind.
21
Orrin Hatch said "we" couldn't afford it- just before he voted to give billions in tax relief to billionaires and highly profitable companies. Every other advanced country views health care as a public good and a right, much as we viewed public education until the GOP was hijacked by the radical right. What a sorry statement on our values that children and their health have no value to the Republicans after they draw their first breaths.
29
Should the federal government have responsibility to look after the well-being of our nation's citizenry? One argument from the commentaries is "No, they don't. States should look after their own, and if they don't have sufficient funding, raise taxes to cover costs, or it's 'only the strong (and rich!) survive.'" Perhaps it's a compelling argument for some folks in reference to the adult population (though certainly natural disasters and other catastrophic events should warrant some federal assistance), but shouldn't WE, the nation's citizenry as a whole, take responsibility for children's health and well-being, regardless of state of residence? Shouldn't this be one of the pillars for federal programming?
14
All is well. Wealthy children (the only children who matter) will benefit from their parents' tax cuts and have even more glorious insurance coverage. This is what makes America great: the land of the free and the home of the brave.
18
It's the 21st century and we live in the richest country in the world and we are actually debating whether we should deny children health care because of income. What a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season. We have lost our way, we have lost our minds.
57
The biggest danger is that parents unable to afford medical care might "wait and see" with their children's illnesses. There will be deaths from "stomach aches" that turn out to be appendicitis, and other easily treatable-yet-expensive ailments.
16
If CHIP collapses, another really terrible outcome may be that very sick children (requiring expensive services) die because their families are unable to pay for uninsured care.
Even if some of the children currently served by CHIP could take advantage of other programs, our nation’s physicians, nurses and hospital systems simply cannot afford to provide free care for millions of newly uninsured kids.
4
They will. Because only a fetus has a right to life.
How many of those 9 million kids or their parents are major Republican donors? The answer determines their priority relative to the roughly 9000 major Republican donor's kids who each year could inherit their parent's wealth without the unfair burden of taxes that apparently (see Krugman piece) would more than pay for the 9 million kids' healthcare.
Take the Trump (fictional name) family from New York City. Little Ivanka (fictional name) was just enjoying her latest Kazakhstan-oligarch-funded yacht when she realized that its jewelry chest was embarrassingly empty! Emergency jewelers realized that she needed a transplant of bangles valued at over $1B. She had recently inherited barely that much after the tragic deaths of her parents whose private jets, traveling in opposite directions, collided with each other while piloted by born-and-bred American citizens who lacked the attentiveness of our ever-alert undocumented immigrants. But with "death" taxes due, she had no way to pay for the jewelry. A Republican senator realized she might be eligible for relief if that nasty tax were eliminated. It was, and she was able to pay her jewelry bills in full. "Without death tax repeal, I probably would have had to sell the yacht," Ivanka said.
Ivanka is one of 9000 children who would lose part of their birthright if the death tax were retained just so that CHIP could be funded. Fortunately Congress is all set to act before the end of 2017.
Those 9000 children cannot wait.
19
Clever, 'Grim' fairy tale the GOP can read to their rosy-cheeked little ones (robustly healthy thanks to their parent's gold-standard, TAXPAYER-FUNDED health care plan!)
Lost in all this "horror" is anyone asking why the states themselves don't pony up the money to look after their own children.
I acknowledge the need for this program, but I just don't accept that it's the responsibility of the federal government.
The fact is that states have large leeway in how they tax their citizens and they manage those revenues. State policies have a direct bearing on the quantity and quality of local services, and whether their citizen can afford to purchase insurance on their own or whether they need assistance due to circumstances unique to the states.
Where is the responsibility of the states themselves?
4
Great points, Chris. But why stop at children? Perhaps the federal government should not shell out money to California for disasters like the fires burning nearby because the state is obviously mis-using its annual rain allotment and water grants and building in all the wrong places (Los Angeles sprawl, for one).
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/10/10/president-donald-...
Here's what the loss of coverage means:
https://www.kff.org/medicaid/fact-sheet/extending-federal-funding-for-ch...
Here's what CHIP covers---preventive-type services spare taxpayers more costly expenses, such as ER visits, etc. Worth a review:
https://www.healthcare.gov/medicaid-chip/childrens-health-insurance-prog...
11
Chris, while I understand your concern, it should not matter where you live as an American citizen to get the care you require as a child. If you have a chronic disorder or life threatening disease your are ENTITLED. Your Federal government funds trillions of dollars of military defense contractor over time, year in and year out. Health care is a national issue and requires a national solution.
7
you must really hate kids to make a statement like that
6
Conservative talk about charities pitching in to fill the gap instead of the federal government is just that - empty talk. Charities are stretched beyond their limits - a local charity that runs a Christmas adopt a family program where donors provide gifts noted the number of low income individuals and families referred by social welfare agencies had increased significantly from last year. As an American it does not make me proud that in a land of much our priorities are so skewed. That CHIP is running low is an issue in itself. If the NRA was advocating for them governors would not be pleading for help.
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Plus, the Republican tax bill eliminates charitable deductions, disincentivizing donations by anyone who would have itemized. All that talk about "We don't want to hurt children, we just think private charities are better than government"? Just one more conservative scam.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-trump-tax-plan-standard-de...
The not so hidden message seems to be: they ( GOP) do not care. Those who seized on the word deplorable actually believe that millions of Americans are deplorable ( spending their minimum wages on "women and booze," credit Grassley) and not deserving of notice. They think they and their donor buddies won the Darwinian lottery, and others are worthless. Would that their constituencies really understood.
36
Just pointing out that Mr. Baker is a Republican (albeit not in the Trump-style).
“A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."
- Mahatma Ghandi
And our faux government is set to pass a lopsided tax bill to aid the richest among us and a reciprocal carry gun bill to further enrich gun manufacturers. We savage the environment and threaten the only planet we will ever know with climate denialism. And now, our inaction on CHIP threatens our own children, the very seed corn we purport to cherish.
The only appropriate comment to all this is the last line of dialogue from The Bridge on the River Kwai: "Madness! Madness!"
84
Reading this makes so happy about my decision to have a hysterectomy. Real freedom in this country for women is eliminating the parts that make you one. What a sad commentary on the state of our nation. That said, having children these days has enormous financial consequences. I don’t have any children and could never see myself having any due to the cost and general lack of support for child welfare in this country.
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So our country is regressing. 20 years ago Congress was able to surmount ideological divides to agree that children should get insurance coverage without bankrupting parents. Where are we now? About to pass a tax bill that will help billionaires and corporations at the expense of children.
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Overall, it seems like the tax proposals will give breaks to big business and perhaps to the top 1%, while greatly inflating the deficit and hurting the middle class in many ways. Yet the Democrats seem to be most anxious about DACA, while this editorial is very concerned about CHIP. No wonder large swaths of the country feel so neglected that they ended up voting an incompetent, possibly demented person like DJT into the Chief Executive office.
3
Sorry, George. Study after study after study has found that the people who voted for Trump primarily did so for sociocultural reasons (anxieties about race, gender, and immigration) than they did for economic ones. And it is possible to be outraged by the Republican tax bill and the elimination of CHIP and DACA as all of these policy proposals are detrimental to our country. Writing an op-ed in favor of reauthorizing a health insurance program for nine million children doesn't mean you don't care about the Republican tax bill. It means that you're trying to appeal to the moral conscience of a nation and say that we can't let vulnerable minors suffer as a result of our dysfunctional political system.
9
Tax dollars paying insurance premiums to private healthcare providers! Like those guys don't have enough in their coffers to help children? !!?? They make hundreds of millions a year in profits- That alone is a crime! Why do citizens have to pay health insurance companies to deliver HEALTHCARE anyway? This arcane "middleman" practice must stop! Blue Shield, Aetna ... all of those "providers" are nothing but an organized crime syndicate.
9
It feels helpless to be a nurse for decades when this country’s legislators are willing to make children suffer.
There’s heartless, then there’s just downright cruelty. Then there’s Republicans in DC. They’re both heartless and cruel.
They have no reason to nonrenew CHIP, except that maybe in their convoluted minds it originated with Hillary Clinton. But this isn’t about Clinton, this is about kids.
13
If my Liberal Fellows had any political smarts, they'd know it's counterproductive to even request that this fool GOP Congress save CHIP. It will just lead to them claiming they have big hearts and "just saved children's health."
Fool Democrats have not one damned spokesperson for the working person as Amerika melts down, they can't fight the GOP because they are too focused on reelection, and they can't pin blame on them because Democrats are just Republicans from 25 years ago. Fire every Democrat in Congress and replace them with someone with liberals with ZERO political experience and we'd do much better in ten years.
1
GOP you are CHIPping away at out soul.
4
Have we really gotten to the point where we are begging for children's health? Has that become a partisan issue? Must we give up something, like the United States Treasury, before Republicans will, even, come to the table? How did we become so subservient? CHIP has saved lives, why do we have to say please? I don't have kids and I can't believe I care more about yours then you do.
14
It's not that WE don't care. It's that Republican leaders care only about what their donors think, not about what WE think or how WE are going to vote. Follow the money.
3
Thank you.
Bummer. Truly a sad, sad story.
Your GOP representatives and senators seem to disagree.
One might suggest you send your appeals to your deaf and disinterested colleagues your state elected. Especially since their constituents keep electing them to office. You know, fiscal responsibility and all. And every GOPer knows those same constituents would vote them back in tomorrow, no matter what they did. Way better than having any liberal.
1
does this program help children in blue states, or children in groups that didn't support il trumpo? if so, the gop doesn't care about them. it's trumps rotten country.
1
Don’t worry, your boy DJT has it under control! It’s going to be a great tax plan. His CEO friends’ tax savings will trickle down to the sick kids. SAD
5
Republican and Democratic Governors alike need to relize that both their parties have failed to bring healthcare into the 20th century for americans, yet alone the 21st. Every developed nation stands there as an example to follow and both parties have consistently refused to abandon a patronizing 19th century anglo-saxon tradition of relying on private charity or some state sponsored half measure cobbled together as a bandaid at the last minute. Shame on everyone in America's political class that won't embrace single payer. The ACA was a violation of the campaign promises of 2008. It doesn't work. By all means pass funding for Children's healthcare, but do it in perpetuity, because healthcare is a right. Just because both Republicans and Democrats have cynically cheated americans out of that right for 50 years doesn't mean we don't know what we've been living through. Memories may be short in politics, but for the citizenry, when you live your whole lifetime worried about healthcare — you tend never to forget. The politicians who wrote this article are out of touch and grasping at straws.
1
The failure to fund CHIP is unconscionable. Parents are worried. States cannot cover the costs without federal help.
None of this would be an issue if the United States had universal health insurance. Every other rich country has managed to do it. Why can't we?
15
Because 1) Americans don't like to pay any taxes that might benefit people other than themselves, and 2) politicians love nothing more than spending endless amounts of taxpayer dollars on the military complex in the guise of "protecting" us.
I would help, but I’ve spent every darn penny I have on booze. women and movies.
46
Me too! Good uses for our $$$
1
The USA is the only non-3rd world nation on earth which does not have a national program to provide medical and dental care for all of its youth. There is no more effective and worthwhile use of a health system dollar then ensuring children have the best chance for a healthy and productive life.
35
Non-3rd world nation?
Well, since CHIP was started by Hillary and, you know, she had those emails . . .
14
This administration and its far right compatriots in both houses of Congress is so self-serving and so heartless, I no longer hold out hope that they'll do the right thing for anyone.
If the end of the Republic isn't upon us, then at minimum certainly we're setting ourselves back nearly 110 years to the days before we had social safety nets, government regulation in service of we the people, and government agencies looking out for our collective welfare and wellbeing.
The pending elimination of the child insurance program is just the latest failure of our once great experiment in democracy.
21
There is a so-called donut hole of non-coverage in Obamacare right above the Medicaid cutoff. As a result, there are 20 million Americans uninsured. The decision has been made to insure children in this gap and not adults. That may be right. But, remember, for every insured 17 year old with cancer, there is an 18 year old who is uninsured.
9
That donut hole only occurs in Republican controlled states that refused to expand Medicaid when the Republican controlled Supreme Court allowed states to opt out. That uninsured 18 year old is completely at the mercy of nominally conservative ideologues.
1
It is beyond belief that Paul Ryan can shepherd a bill that explodes the deficit and is basically a money give away to the super rich by robbing the poor and middle class and then have the gaul to turn around and say we can’t renew help for children’s healthcare because of the debt. Deductions for private planes but no healthcare for kids!
Please America, see him and the Republicans for who they are!
57
Paul Ryan who's been on the "public dole" or a recipient of tax dollars for most of his life. I guess his Koch benefactors hold more sway.
4
I can't believe this is even a conversation.
93
Yes, it's an eye-opener. Especially since CHIP does a lot to prevent bigger more costlier health problems. Every state also pays into the program and we all benefit.
6
Most decent human beings understand that the health care and well being of children is among the most important things a society can provide. To see a child suffer illness because they are poor when treatment is available, should horrify anyone.
That Republicans have put forth massive wealth transfer from he poor to the rich, while throwing children and their education under the bus, shows complete moral depravity.
This is the party of corporate profit, not family values.
They dolt even look embarrassed as they do it - they look as sum and proud as if they had done something to alleviate suffering, rather than increase it in our land, to our most vulnerable.
Look at the pictures of them grinning they look like exactly who they are.
63
Governors, the Republican Party has made their political platform perfectly clear since they stole the last election cycle:
"Wealthcare....not Healthcare !"
"Up With the 1%....down with the 99% !"
"White Christian males first.....screw the women and children !"
"A Gun Under Every Pillow"
"Kill the environment for profit !"
"Drop dead, America !"
Get with the Grand Old Psychopathic program, boys and girls.
133
The states that want to continue CHIP should raise taxes and pay for it, rather than asking the federal government to deficit spend on their behalf. Let the states make the call and be accountable to their voters.
15
The entire country has to pay for the Republican's tax bill which is projected to increase our national debt and interest expense so why do you think it is unfair to use federal funds to pay for CHIP?
I am opposed to the idea of states having different standards of healthcare for our citizens. If you want each state to operate as a separate sovereign nation then go to Europe.
116
Just to be clear, no European country leaves it to the province or region to decide whether or not to cover children, and all European countries have some form of universal health care that of course covers children. In Germany, for example, there is a long tradition of covering children at no additional cost to the parents (payroll deduction for social insurance/sickness fund system).Even in more market-oriented countries, health care is an exception to the principle of deferring to market dynamics. Being able to meet the basic need for access to health care is regarded as a basic social right of citizenship, because without basic health care children and adults cannot thrive.
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@DRS so it seems what you are really saying is that it’s ok for the federal government to deficit spend to help the wealthy become wealthier, but shouldn’t deficit spend to help poor families with catastrophic healthcare expenses. That is a set of backward priorities.
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Dear Governors Baker, Brown, Bullock, and Sandoval,
While I appreciate the sentiment underlying your plea, consider these question: what's a healthy child without living parents to take care of them? What good is healthcare in a healthy but hungry child?
It's time Republicans worked with Senator Sanders on a proposal for Medicare for All. Healthcare is a human right. With more than 42 million hungry in this nation, it is high time to make food a right for all Americans.
--
www.rimaregas.com
107
so would you sacrifice the children if you did not get the Medicare for All? You seem to suggest that, which has always been the fundamental problem of the Sanders message - all or nothing (see 2016 election results)
3
Matt,
Please throw away your literal reading glasses. They are keeping you from using logic.
4
Those who don't have the stomach for the effects of hardball capitalism should contribute to their favorite charity out of their own pockets bit keep the government's hands out of mine. While childhood healthcare is a great image, the fact is that adults shouldn't have children that they cannot afford. My job doesn't allow me the time or energy for a family, or a social life or any other interest outside of work for that matter, so I don't have one. It really is that simple, unless you subscribe to the liberal ideal of entitlement.
2
I’m so sorry governors, but this is the same (Republican) congress that couldn’t manage to move a finger when 20 kindergarteners were massacred. What makes you think they’ll care about their vaccinations?
209
What is Congress supposed to do about one nut who kills his mother and steals her gun? What in fact you are saying is that, "... this is the same (Republican) congress that couldn’t manage to massage liberal angst over what liberals simply don't get." And for the record I'm a hardcore Leftist, I'm just not delusional and conflating outrage with cause & effect.
1
If his mother had had one handgun for self defense stored in a locked gun safe, the situation would have turned out differently, eh?
We can't let this expire! What kind of heartless monsters do we have in Congress and the WH!
102
In answer to your question, the type of heartless monsters we have in Congress and the White House are Republican. Make a note of it and vote accordingly.
8