Friday, September 28, 2007

SCHIP...The Reality


The showdown has begun over SCHIP. The health insurance program for children is up for renewal and there is some controversy. There are some that think that this will lead to social health care, I believe they are over reacting and overgeneralizing. In Idaho over 27,000 children are covered by SCHIP, that is more than reside in most Idaho cities or towns. These children are covered because they qualify. What does that say about the state of health care in our state and the economy when that number of children are covered by this program? To em, it says that the economy is not as strong as those in power want you to believe and that families are struggling to meet their health care needs. I can speak on this from experience, I work at a small business, less than twenty employees and our insurance is outrageous. The monthly average per person is over $600.00. That is for $500.00 deductible and only covering the employee. If I was going to cover my family (spouse and three children) it would be over $800.00 per month. That is almost as much as my mortgage. It is not something that I can afford. So to see the Idaho congressional delegation compare SCHIP to social insurance is not fair. How much do they have to pay to cover their families? I contacted my congressional delegation and I received one response, Senator Crapo was afraid of social medicine. I don't recall SCHIP allowing for adult coverage? It is for children and I can't believe that as a father and a person who was seen people in Eastern Idaho suffer due to poverty that Sen. Crapo could be so cold and heartless. Speaking of social insurance, I know a family that recently lived in Britain for over a year and they were party to the "social medicine" and they had nothing but praise for the ease of seeing a physician and getting things taken care of in an efficient and timely manner. They didn't have any major surgery, just routine checkups and stuff. But they were very pleased with the experience. So when people criticize social medicine and have never partaken, I question their motives. I guess the insurance companies and drug companies how a lot of fund raisers for congressman. Maybe I should hold one to pay for may families insurance.

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