Noticing questions raised in response to this post, a colleague passed along info collected yesterday, after an editorial board discussion of the issue:
The claim: The proposal would allow coverage of families earning $83,000.
The facts: The bill essentially sets an income ceiling of three times the poverty rate for a family of four – $61,950. Beyond that, the federal government would not pay a state its full SCHIP match, which averages about 70 percent. New York state is seeking a waiver that would allow its residents to qualify if their income is not above four times the poverty rate – $82,600 for a family of four. The current administration or future administrations would have to approve that request. New Jersey would still be allowed to cover families with incomes three and one-half times the poverty rate – $72,275 for a family of four.
Here’s the full news story from which that was gleaned:
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congress’ proposal to expand a child health care program gives states the financial incentive to expand eligibility for coverage to families of four earning about $62,000 a year.
That’s a figure that seldom emerges in the claims and counterclaims being tossed about.
The Bush administration and many Republicans oppose the proposal as a big step toward socialized medicine. They much prefer to cite $83,000 – the ceiling that would apply to families of four only in New York state, and then only if the Health and Human Services Department approves a requested amendment to the state’s current SCHIP plan.
Democrats, 45 Republicans in the House, many Senate GOP colleagues and other supporters of the expansion prefer to rattle off the figure $40,000. They say that about 70 percent to 80 percent of enrollees in the program would be children in families with incomes less that twice the poverty level. The poverty level is defined by the Census Bureau as $20,650 for a family of four.
Just what would happen under the bill passed Tuesday by the House, up for a vote later this week in the Senate and then sure to get a veto from President Bush? Here are some of the claims, and what in fact the bill would actually do:
The claim: The proposal would encourage families to substitute public insurance for private insurance.
The facts: The Congressional Budget Office projects that about 3.8 million people would become insured as a result of the bill, and about 2 million more will move from private coverage to public coverage. CBO Director Peter Orszag said the substitution rate of one-third was "pretty much as good as you’re going to get" absent a mandate on employers to provide coverage or the insuree to buy it.
The claim: The proposal would allow coverage of families earning $83,000.
The facts: The bill essentially sets an income ceiling of three times the poverty rate for a family of four – $61,950. Beyond that, the federal government would not pay a state its full SCHIP match, which averages about 70 percent. New York state is seeking a waiver that would allow its residents to qualify if their income is not above four times the poverty rate – $82,600 for a family of four. The current administration or future administrations would have to approve that request. New Jersey would still be allowed to cover families with incomes three and one-half times the poverty rate – $72,275 for a family of four.
The claim: The bill would make it easier for children of illegal immigrants to get government-sponsored health coverage.
The facts: Currently, states are required to seek proof of U.S. citizenship before they provide Medicaid coverage, except in emergencies. The states now require applicants to show documents like birth certificates or passports in order to prove U.S. citizenship and nationality. The bill would allow applicants to submit a Social Security number instead.
Michael J. Astrue, commissioner for the Social Security Administration, said that matching a Social Security number with an individual does not allow officials to verify whether someone is a U.S. citizen.
The claim: The proposed 61 cent tax on a pack of cigarettes is a tax on the poor.
The facts: According to a recent analysis by the National Center for Health Statistics, smoking rates are higher for those who live in poverty or near poverty than among wealthier individuals. Also, a more dated analysis cited by the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank, states that two-thirds of federal tobacco taxes come from those earning less than $40,000 a year.
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I can swallow all of this…except the SS number stuff.
The SS number system is crap. It take 2 hours and $100.00 to get a SS card…this element of the plan could put us all in hock.
Brad, Thanks for the clairfication on how the monetary caps are set and why certain numbers have been thrown about. I cheked and apparently New York’s population only makes up about 6.5% of the U.S. population, but I’m curious (and this is even if N.Y. gets the waiver) what percentage of that is made up by families of 4 or more that make also make less than $80,000 a year. I think it is disingenuous for Sen. Graham to bandy about the $82,000 a year figure when A. it hasn’t passed yet and B. will adminitedly be a very small percentage of the population.
Graham is correct to cite this.
I’m quite confident that the New York Waiver will become the US norm. No court would allow one state such a significant advantage over other states, and the only way to rectify that would be to allow all states to have the waiver rather than punish unfairly the one.
Mike I say disingenuous since it would probably be less than 1% of the U.S. population that would fall under that number he cites, yet to make an alarming argument about the bill, he cites the least likely scenario and acts as if it is the norm or a going to be the standard case.
Sitting Correctly Improves Height
Many exercises have been discussed on how to improve posture while a person is standing or when he is lying down. Indeed, improving posture is one of the proven ways to increase an individual’s height from two to four inches. However, sitting properly is also essential in correcting posture, therefore improving height.
A person who works eight to five in an office will most likely spend at least six hours sitting, which is 67% of his time during work. Children who go to school spend 75% of their time sitting. The rest involves running, walking and standing. Now if you spend most of your time sitting, won’t your sitting position affect your overall posture? According to medical journals, sitting improperly causes many back ailments such as lumbago or lower back pain. Go to http://www.growth-flex.com/ .
While sitting, a person should sit perfectly straight. This way, the pressure on your vertebral disc is either reduced or eliminated. With less compression, your backbone is allowed to relax. You must also make sure that your neck does not bend forward.
Some chairs are not ergonomically designed, or are less helpful in maintaining an upright and comfortable sitting position. Hence, it is important to bring a pillow, which will be placed at the base of your chair just below your lower back, to cushion the back. You can be sure that you can be more productive if you are in the proper sitting position, having lesser back ailments than before.
Height improvement will likewise be achieved with proper exercise, right sleeping habits and balanced meals coupled with growth boosting food supplements like Growth Flex V Pro System. Have a look at http://www.growth-flex.com/ for more.
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honeydollar
The Relevance of Sleep to Height
Whenever a person goes to sleep, the whole body relaxes, including the muscles, the organs and the bones. During sleep, the vertebra or the backbone lengthens, as fluids begin to fill the gaps in between the bones. Once the person wakes up and starts his daily activities, the fluid that filled the gap between his bones during the night will then start to seep away. Hence, the spine would shrink back to its normal size.
This is the reason why whenever a person tries to measure his height during the morning and compared it to his height during the afternoon or the evening, he or she will see that there is a difference. Hence, the real height is actually measured during the afternoon. Go to http://www.growth-flex.com/ .
Sleep is very important to our bodies, and has a tremendous effect on our growth, and this is not only because we grow taller when we sleep. A person who doesn’t have enough sleep will eventually have a problem with the production of growth hormones in the body. A full eight hours of sleep is essential for growth.
Not only should we have eight hours of sleep, we should have complete rest – this means you cannot have sleeping hours on installment. Furthermore, if a person sleeps later than he used to, this will drastically change his body chemistry, leading to less production of growth hormones again. Young people who are starting to become insomniacs or have the habit of sleeping late should be informed of this matter; else they would regret it later in life.
For adults, since the growth hormone levels are much lesser than teens, it would be best to make use of products that help increase the production of growth hormones. Such product is Growth Flex V Pro System. Visit here at. http://www.growth-flex.com/ .
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vanjoshep