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	Out of Touch: A Status Report on CMS's August 17th Directive
	Sample Letter to the Editor

Over 30,000 Ohio Children Denied Health Coverage by Bush Administration Directive

Status Report from Georgetown Center for Children and Families Highlights Effects of Federal Rule; Ohio Lawmakers Urge Congress to Fix Problem

Washington A new report issued by the Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CCF) says that a directive issued by the Bush Administration in August 2007 has cost more than 30,000 Ohio children the opportunity to receive affordable health care coverage.

Even as the Georgetown report was being released, Ohio’s lawmakers from both political parties were urging the state’s Congressional delegation to overturn the directive, which drastically altered the rules that have governed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for ten years.

The Georgetown report details the directive’s effect on children across the country and in Ohio, where it has so far prevented the implementation of the SCHIP coverage expansion approved in 2007 with leadership from Governor Strickland and a substantial bipartisan group of Ohio legislators. The expansion is designed to provide affordable health care for children living in families with incomes between 200% and 300% of the federal poverty level (between $35,200 and $52,800 in pre-tax income for a family of three).

As of Tuesday morning, 24 Ohio legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, had sent letters to Senators Brown and Voinovich and U.S. House of Representative members from the state urging Congressional action to remove the federal barriers to covering more Ohio children. In addition, thirty Governors, including Governor Strickland, and numerous Members of Congress have called on the Bush Administration to rescind the directive.

“Ohio’s leaders made a substantial bipartisan commitment to close the gap in children’s health insurance coverage with SCHIP, a resoundingly successful program. They did so because they know that, with health coverage, Ohio’s children have the chance to grow up healthy, succeed in school, and become productive citizens,” said Amy Swanson, executive director of Voices for Ohio’s Children. “This federal policy change couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Ohio families. As more families are experiencing financial hardship, the Administration’s actions severely limit Ohio’s options to soften the impact of the economic downturn on our most vulnerable residents—uninsured children.”

As the economy weakens, unemployment rises and more families lose access to affordable health insurance. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study cited in the report, an estimated 1.1 million Americans become uninsured when unemployment rises by one percentage point.

“Unpaid medical bills piling up on the dining room table are not as obvious signals of trouble as foreclosure signs cropping up in yards, but the pain they can inflict is just as harmful,” said Cindy Mann, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. “This policy is clearly out of touch with the economic reality faced by uninsured families and states trying to help them.”

By bypassing Congress, the Administration overstepped its legal authority in issuing the policy changes according to newly issued General Accountability Office (GAO) and Congressional Research Service (CRS) analyses cited in the report. A number of legal challenges have also been filed against the directive.

“If President Bush doesn’t voluntarily rescind this ill-advised directive, Congress should move swiftly to overturn the rule before more children are harmed,” said Swanson.

The report is based on a growing body of new data and analyses by state officials, research organizations and legal experts. Copies of the report “Out of Touch: A Status Report on CMS’s August 17th Directive” are available at www.ccf.georgetown.edu.

To send a letter to the editor of your local paper, we've supplied you with some sample verbiage you can use to share your support to overturn this federal red tape.

Rebecca Wilson
330-524-2067
rswilson@raex.com