The New York Times today continues its coverage of the tug of war between the Bush administration and the states over health care.
States and U.S. at Odds Over Aid to Uninsured:
In the absence of federal action, governors and state legislators
around the country are transforming the nation’s health care system,
putting affordable health insurance within reach of millions of
Americans in hopes of reversing the steady rise in the number of
uninsured, now close to 47 million.
But the states appear to be
on a collision course with the Bush administration, whose latest budget
proposals create a huge potential obstacle to their efforts to expand
coverage.
The piece also has a nice rundown of various state initiatives to increase coverage of the uninsured - particularly children:
In New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer,
a Democrat, has proposed raising the state’s income limit to 400
percent of the poverty level, from 250 percent. A family of four is
considered poor if its annual income is less than $20,650. Arizona and
Wisconsin are also proposing raising income ceilings.In California, as part of a plan to cover all state residents, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican,
proposed increasing the income limit for the children’s insurance
program to 300 percent of the poverty level, from 250 percent.Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich
of Illinois, a Democrat, said Mr. Bush’s proposal “would seriously
hamper the efforts of Illinois and other states” to ensure that all
children had coverage — the goal of a state law he signed in November
2005.. . .
¶Arkansas,
Kentucky, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Tennessee have new laws
and programs to reduce the cost of insurance for small employers.¶Massachusetts
and Vermont passed laws in 2006 to achieve universal or nearly
universal coverage, while addressing the cost and quality of care.¶Several
states, including Colorado and Delaware, are requiring insurers to
cover young adults, the fastest-growing segment of the uninsured
population.
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