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Last Updated: Aug 7th, 2007 - 10:28:29 |
Cigarette tax boost to fund children's health
Aug 7, 2007, 10:24
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WASHINGTON — Congress is turning to cigarette smokers to cough up the dough needed to extend health care insurance to needy children. As they headed toward their August recess, House and Senate Democrats pressed forward with legislation last week to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program. The Senate bill calls for a $35 billion increase over five years to the $25 billion program while the House wants $50 billion. The House and Senate would pay for the increases, in part, by boosting the cigarette tax by either 45 or 61 cents a pack. "It is unconscionable that 46 million Americans — 9 million of them children — lack health insurance. This includes 394,000 people in Connecticut, which is larger than the populations of New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury and Norwich combined. We have a moral responsibility to fix this," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3. House and Senate leaders plan to hash out a final version of the bill so that Congress can approve it before the program expires at the end of September. Meanwhile, President Bush has threatened to veto either version saying they contain a "massive, regressive tax increase" and favor government-run health care that would result in lower quality and fewer choices. Republicans in Congress have echoed those concerns. "The real plan here is to set the stage for a movement of the next gigantic step in the direction of what should be called Hillary-care — national socialized medicine," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., referring to the failed Clinton administration health care effort, directed by then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. In his 2008 budget, Bush proposed that the program continue without greatly expanding it. He included a 20 percent annual increase in funding for the program — providing an additional $5 billion over five years. The administration proposal would result in hundreds of thousands of children losing coverage, DeLauro said. Last month, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell wrote Bush, expressing concern about the future of the federally managed SCHIP Program, which subsidizes the state's HUSKY plan. "It is impossible to over-emphasize that, as a direct result of the original authorization of the SCHIP program, access to affordable health care is available to every child, regardless of family income, in Connecticut," Rell wrote. "On the most basic and critical level, lack of re-authorization of SCHIP would represent a huge step backward in providing health care for our children. Connecticut's ability to access federal financial participation for serving children up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level must be of paramount importance in the upcoming decision on the re-authorization." The HUSKY program offers comprehensive health coverage to children and teenagers in families of all incomes, and to parents and relative caregivers with low incomes. It serves about 225,000 children and 91,000 adults. DeLauro, a staunch anti-smoking advocate, said she supports expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program by raising the cigarette tax and reducing subsidies to private Medicare health insurance providers. The bill, she said, would make it possible to cover almost all eligible children — including 37,000 in Connecticut who now are not participating in the state's HUSKY program. "We all have a stake and an obligation in solving this crisis. No one, not even the president, should be able to undermine the great promise of a healthy future for our kids," she said. Rep. Christopher Shays was one of only five House Republicans to vote in favor of the bill Wednesday. But, he did it with some reservations. Shays joined with other Republicans during debate on the bill to try to block its passage. When those efforts failed, he voted for it. Shays, who represents the 4th District, was concerned it would reduce Medicare Plus programs available to seniors. He had no problem with raising the tobacco tax to pay for the program. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said that raising the price of cigarettes has the added benefit of discouraging children from starting to smoke. About 3,000 children start smoking every day, he said. "This is a good effort," he said. "Here we are in the early part of the 21st century yet so many kids lack health care." Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independently elected Democrat, said he supports the legislation. "This is a great program. The cigarette tax is directly related to health care because presumably every time you raise the tax fewer people smoke. So, if you have to add a tax to some activity this makes a lot of sense," Lieberman said. Reps. Chris Murphy, D-5; John Larson, D-1; and Joe Courtney, D-2, also support the legislation. "If the president had his way, the coverage of over 20,000 children in Connecticut would be cut. Instead, 50,000 uninsured children in Connecticut will be helped by the bill we have passed," Larson said. Connecticut voters overwhelmingly favor expanding the state's HUSKY program, according to a survey taken in March by Lake Research Partners. The poll found 89 percent favored expanding the program so that every uninsured child in Connecticut could get health care coverage. "It is a simple idea — we invest in children's health care, and we get healthy children eager to learn and grow," said Sharon Langer, senior policy fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children. "If we deny health care coverage, we get unhealthy children falling behind in school and unable to become productive members of our community."
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