Fortenberry: Cutting Medicare to Fund SCHIP is Irresponsible

Washington, DC - Congressman Jeff Fortenberry commented today on the proposed overhaul of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

“Everyone agrees that children deserve proper health care. SCHIP provides health insurance for over 6 million needy children. I support its renewal, but it must be done responsibly. The proposed legislation vastly overreaches, cutting Medicare and allowing some adults to claim health care coverage meant for children. Public policy should not pit children against their grandparents. This is a bill which could have clear bipartisan support but unfortunately is caught in Washington politics.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the proposed SCHIP legislation will cut Medicare by $193 billion over the next ten years. These cuts include:

•$157 billion from the Medicare Advantage program;

•$15.3 billion from nursing facilities, rehabilitation facilities and long term care hospitals;

•$9.6 billion from payments for oxygen and brachytherapy;

•$7.5 billion from home health care and renal disease treatment programs; and

•$3.6 billion from end stage renal disease programs.

The proposed legislation also redefines “child” to allow adults up to the age of 25 to claim insurance coverage meant for children.

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