Corzine Blasts Bush’s ‘Misinformation’ On SCHIP

Last week, President Bush vetoed an expansion of SCHIP, denying coverage to 3.2 million children who are currently uninsured. To justify his veto, Bush held up states who want to cover children above 300 percent of the poverty level as examples of the program’s misdirection. Yesterday in his weekly radio address, Bush claimed that he is “guided by a clear principle: Put poor children first.”

Today, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) appeared on ABC’s This Week and shot down Bush’s excuses. While New Jersey’s SCHIP program does cover children in families with incomes up to $72,000, “the cost of living in New Jersey is far higher than it is in other parts of the country”:

CORZINE: Now, the fact is that there’s only about 3 percent of our kids in that 300 percent of poverty to 350 percent.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Middle class to upper middle class.

CORZINE: Upper middle class. That’s hardly upper middle class in New Jersey. Median income’s about $65,000. The reality is that the vast majority, the vast majority of the children that are in the CHIPS program — we call it Family Care in New Jersey — are under 250 percent of poverty.

Watch it:

Corzine also responded to Bush’s criticism that states such as New Jersey spend “more SCHIP money on adults than they do on children.” “We cover parents up to 133 percent of poverty,” he said. “That’s $27,000 for a family of four. In New Jersey, that is poverty. … Yes, the cost of insurance for adults is more than for young folks, for kids, but that is not going to middle class or even moderate income families. Very low income.”

New Jersey is one of eight states that has sued the Bush administration for making it harder for them to cover more families under SCHIP. Additionally, the bill Bush vetoed actually put the poorest children “first in line” for benefits. It seems that in order to fund the Iraq war, poor and middle-income children come last for this administration.

Transcript:

STEPHANOPOULOS: And Secretary Leavitt, let me begin with you. You heard the president there, and press secretary Dana Perino said that this expansion is a move towards socialized-type medicine. If this is a move towards socialized-type medicine, why stop at a veto? Why not get rid of the whole program?

LEAVITT: The president’s position on this can be summarized in three words: poor children first. Poor children ought to have health insurance before we begin to focus on adults. They ought to have it before we start focusing on middle-income families.

The president just thinks it’s wrong that some under this bill could receive public subsidy for their health insurance. As high as $83,000 in their family. We would be encouraging people who currently have insurance to cancel it so that the government can pay for it.

Now, the president has put forward a plan to have every American have health insurance and wants to get on to that debate. Every presidential candidate has a plan. The president’s put forward proposals. We just can’t seem to get the Congress to focus on it.

We’d like to get the SCHIP reauthorized and move on to the larger debate of how we can get every American to have access to affordable policy.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Secretary Leavitt mentioned a couple numbers there, $83,000. In New Jersey…

CORZINE: There’s not a single program in the country that has been authorized at $83,000.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, New Jersey would go up to $72,000, wouldn’t it?

CORZINE: It already is. It has been in place for nine years. It was requested through the department that Secretary Leavitt leads, under a Republican governor in 1999, Christine Todd Whitman. And it was reapproved for nine years in a row.

And the reason it was approved up to those limits is the fact that the cost of living in New Jersey is far higher than it is in other parts of the country. And it seemed reasonable, I think, to both Republican and Democratic administrations to give what they call a waiver. And that occurred.

Now, the fact is that there’s only about 3 percent of our kids in that 300 percent of poverty to 350 percent.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Middle class to upper middle class.

CORZINE: Upper middle class. That’s hardly upper middle class in New Jersey. Median income’s about $65,000. The reality is that the vast majority, the vast majority of the children that are in the CHIPS program — we call it Family Care in New Jersey — are under 250 percent of poverty.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But here’s what The Wall Street Journal said about your program in New Jersey. It was an editorial called Garden Stateism. And you’re actually suing the federal government over their plan.

Their response is, How fitting that Mr. Corzine should be the one to resort to lawbreaking, given that his state exemplifies everything that’s gone haywire with SCHIP. States like New Jersey have been taking advantage of SCHIP’s flexibility in covering more affluent children, their parents and even childless adults.

And President Bush this week said that New Jersey actually pays more under SCHIP to adults than children.

CORZINE: Well, this is the problem with this whole debate. There’s so much misinformation. We cover parents up to 133 percent of poverty.

That’s $27,000 for a family of four.

In New Jersey, that is poverty. As a matter of fact, people earn the earned income tax credit there. We’re giving money back, because they don’t have enough resources to be able to get by in the world today.

Yes, the cost of insurance for adults is more than for young folks, for kids, but that is not going to middle class or even moderate income families. Very low income. It’s an extension of Medicaid, and the percentage of young folks, kids, that are insured is 10,000 — is about 3 percent. It’s 10,700 of the total of 125,000.