Op-Ed: Vetoing CHIP will hurt Kentucky children

2007-09-30

Source: Lexington Herald-Leader

The single most compelling reason to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program is also the simplest: It's the right thing to do.

In America, every child should have a fair shot at growing up to be an astronaut, a ballet dancer, a firefighter or president of the United States. No child should be forced to give up these dreams because of health problems that can be managed or even prevented with proper care.

In America, every child should have health care.

If that's not a good enough reason to keep President Bush from vetoing new funding for children's health, there's also a powerful fiscal argument. Prevention makes good economic sense.

In today's twisted health care marketplace, where the costs bear no rational relationship to reality, spending on preventive care is one of the few things proven to make a difference.

So it is hard to fathom why the president threatens to veto legislation that would retain health coverage for the nearly 6 million children already enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program -- including 50,225 in Kentucky -- and expand coverage to millions more who need health coverage.

Kentucky's U.S. senators, Republicans Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning, are no better. On Thursday, they voted against the program again, showing where their priorities lie.

The clock is ticking and for many working families, it's beginning to sound more like a time bomb. If nothing is done, millions of kids who have health coverage now will lose it -- and things will continue to go from bad to worse.

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