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Congressman Bill Posey (R-FL) recently delivered the following statement on the floor of the House of Representatives regarding H.R. 2 which reauthorizes the State Children’s Health Insurance Program:

“Mr. Chairman I rise to express both my support for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and my reservations about the particular SCHIP bill (H.R. 2) that is before us today. I would also add that I am pleased to support an alternative version that will be offered as a substitute today. This alternative focuses SCHIP on low income children and addresses the problems with the underlying bill.

“Our nation faces very serious financial challenges. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that this year’s federal budget deficit will be nearly $1.2 trillion dollars. In other words one out of every three dollars that the federal government will spend this year will be borrowed from future generations. Given that our children and grandchildren will have to pay back everything that this generation borrows, we must give the greatest scrutiny to each and every dollar that is spent.

“I am committed to working to assist lower-income children who lack insurance. SCHIP was established as a bipartisan program to insure children in families too poor to pay for insurance but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. If that was what the bill before us did, I would be voting for it. Unfortunately, H.R. 2 goes well beyond focusing specifically on these children.

“H.R. 2 expands SCHIP to extend taxpayer subsidies to the children of those living in, for example, New Jersey and making more than $80,000 per year (400% of the poverty level).

“The CBO estimates that 2.4 million of the new enrollees in SCHIP will be children who simply dropped private coverage to enroll in SCHIP. Given our massive federal deficit, does it make sence to borrow money from our children and grandchildren in order to enroll in SCHIP children who currently have other private insurance?

“H.R. 2 continues to allow states to enroll single adults in SCHIP. Over 600,000 are enrolled in the SCHIP program and three states have more adults enrolled in SCHIP than children. This is particularly troubling given that in many states with large numbers of adults enrolled in SCHIP, many qualified children remain uninsured. This is a misappropriation of limited resources and children should not have to sit on the sidelines while able-body adults take their benefits.

“H.R. 2 also repeals safeguards that were put in place to ensure that illegal immigrants were not enrolled in taxpayer subsidized SCHIP. Removing these safeguards will actually encourage illegal immigration by offering taxpayer funded benefits to people who bypass our laws and enter the U.S. illegally. In a sense, it gives foreign nationals an incentive to break our immigration laws.

“Finally, in an admission by the sponsors of H.R. 2 that the bill is unaffordable, the bill assumes that millions of children will be dropped from the SCHIP program in 2013 in order to meet the technical requirements of federal budget rules. Does anyone really believe that the Congress would kick millions of people out of SCHIP in 2013? It’s time for this Congress to be honest with the American people and this bill does not meet that test. By employing this budget gimmick, the sponsors of H.R. 2 are admitting that the bill is unaffordable.

“I am fully supportive of legislation that would focus on ensuring that lower income children are able to enroll in SCHIP. This bill falls far short of that goal.

“In conclusion let me say that we have until March 31st to reauthorize SCHIP. Congress should use that time wisely to further examine the effectiveness of this program to date and address these shortcomings. I am disappointed that this 286-page bill is being rushed to the House floor under a closed process that denies Members of the House the opportunity to have an up or down vote on amendments that would address these concerns. I believe that America’s children deserve better.”