If you stumble upon Governor Ted Strickland’s campaign video, you might think that all uninsured kids in Ohio now have access to health insurance. Unfortunately, that’s not the real scenario. According to a state survey conducted earlier this year, approximately 111,255 children in Ohio remain uninsured. Most of these youngsters are eligible for the tax-funded State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). About 34,232 uninsured kids however didn’t qualify for the coverage as their family’s income exceeds current guidelines.
In the year 2007, the General Assembly authorized Strickland’s plan to expand SCHIP eligibility to children in higher-income families, but the state has never subsidized it. The money for the expansion was reserved in the two-year state budget approved in July, but it is expected to come from tobacco funds that are tied up in a court case. Nonetheless, Strickland continues publicizing his said accomplishments on health care, including extensive claims on his campaign Web site: “He’s passed legislation guaranteeing health-care access for all Ohio children, and he’s working to make that happen.”
Should his SCHIP expansion be implemented, there would still be a probable 13,357 uninsured children who wouldn’t have health insurance, again according the Ohio Family Health Survey. On a positive note, administration officials say that they are certain they’ll eventually win the lawsuit and be able to use the tobacco funds, and that Strickland will no longer try to take undue credit for what he has done on health care.
Similar Posts:
- $20.7 Billion Deficit in California Health Care Budget
- How Scott Brown Could Affect the Nation’s Health Care Policies
- More Americans than not want health law repeal
- Health Insurance Survival Guide for Retirees and Baby Boomers
- How Is Obama’s State of the Union Address Going to Affect Health Insurance?
0 Comments.