Gov. Jennifer Granholm, along with a host of others, is fighting to influence U.S. House of Representative members to override President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.
The legislation was passed by large margins in both the U.S. House and Senate.
The bill would add $35 billion to the program in five years and is too expensive, said Bush, according to The Associated Press.
“There is something wrong when we are spending $12 billion a month putting our men and women in the middle of a civil war and yet the president of the United States will veto a fully funded children’s health care bill,” said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who gave a speech Wednesday at an ISS class on MSU’s campus.
To some people, like international relations junior Amy Reich, the president’s move seemed to be against children in general.
“It’s a poor decision at this time and politically dangerous to the president’s future,” Reich said. “It could hurt Republicans who associate with Bush now. It’s something we had before and we’ve counted on it before.”
In Michigan, the program is known as MIChild and supports about 55,000 Michigan children.
The insurance program is distinctly used for children of working-class families who do not qualify for Medicaid and can’t afford to purchase some type of health coverage.
If the SCHIP program isn’t renewed, MIChild and similar extensions in other states will die off, said Bill Knox, associate state director for government affairs for AARP.
“The problem is that more and more parents are losing insurance because employers are no longer offering it,” Knox said.
AARP and the American Medical Association, or AMA, have teamed up to send letters to U.S. House members urging them to submit enough votes to override the veto.
Senate members had more than enough votes to override the veto, but House members have not rallied the votes to do the same, Knox said.
“We think all things considered, the cost isn’t too much,” Knox said.
“More children should be covered.”
However, some House members, like U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, say the bill needs to be revamped to make sure the money isn’t spent on illegal immigrants or families with moderately high incomes.
“Certainly, we should not be adding adults, children who already have good health insurance through their parents and illegal immigrants while we continue to ignore 700,000 uninsured children who are currently eligible for but not taking advantage of SCHIP,” Rogers said in a press release.
If the bill is overridden in the House, Michigan would see a 44 percent increase in funds that could cover about 80,900 additional children.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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