Perdue Urges New Method for Financial Awards for Kids' Health Coverage

WASHINGTON — Gov. Sonny Perdue urged Congress Tuesday to pass a children's health insurance program that doesn't punish Georgia for covering more kids.

The Republican governor told a House health subcommittee that the current State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is based on a flawed formula that has reduced federal funding for his state as Georgia enrolled more children from low-income families.

"Georgia has done well in implementing SCHIP," Perdue told the subcommittee. "We've done too well, in fact. We've been penalized for it."

Georgia is the ninth largest state in the country but has the fourth largest program — called PeachCare for Kids, Perdue testified. The state and federal government share the funding and eligible families also must contribute, he told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health.

Focusing on families that make too much for Medicaid but still can't afford private insurance, Georgia limits eligibility to 235 percent of the federal poverty level — an income of $49,820 a year for a family of four.

"SCHIP is not a government handout. It's not for unemployed families on welfare," Perdue said. "It helps the children of working parents who not only pay their taxes, but who also pay premiums for the insurance their children receive."

But when a child receives coverage under PeachCare, he or she no longer counts as uninsured in the formula that determines how much money a state gets.

"The better you are at implementing SCHIP, the less funding you receive," Perdue said. "If a state was 100 percent successful and reached all eligible uninsured children, its funding the next year would be drastically cut because no children would be uninsured."

As a fast-growing state, Georgia is also hurt because the program relies on population figures from as far back as 2002, Perdue said. "Georgia has grown by almost a million people since 2002."

Republicans in the House have twice sustained President Bush's veto of an expansion of SCHIP that was passed by both the House and Senate. Bush said the legislation extends the coverage beyond the initial focus on children of the working poor and encourages middle-class families to switch from private health insurance to the government program.

But subcommittee chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., accused Bush of waging "ideological warfare" and having "ignored the needs of hardworking American families."

Perdue appeared on a panel with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat; Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat; Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat; and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican. The governors were unanimous in urging Congress and the president to come together and renew the children's insurance program.

"If SCHIP were a snail darter or a purple bank climbing mussel, we would be suing the federal government under the Endangered Species Act," said Perdue.

Perdue and Barbour, however, supported Bush's contention that the program should focus on children from low-income families.

"It is a grave mistake to expand taxpayer funded insurance to a level that undermines personal responsibility for those who are able to purchase private insurance on their own," said Perdue.

The governors also criticized a directive issued by the Bush administration on Aug. 17 that said a state would have to prove that it had enrolled 95 percent of its children who are eligible for Medicaid and SCHIP in families at the 200 percent of poverty level — an income of $42,400 a year or below for a family of four — before providing any coverage above 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

"This is a voluntary program," pointed out Perdue. "You cannot force parents to participate."

However, Perdue was cautious about "unsustainable expansions" to the program that could leave states stuck with the bill for a larger program if the federal government was forced to cut back.

"As governor of a state with a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, I recognize that we simply do not have unlimited funds for SCHIP," he said.