Mark Knows It All

Whenever you hear a government program glowingly described as “for the children,” hit the dirt and hold onto your wallet. Using kids as pawns is a tried and true political gimmick. You can hide all sorts of government “sneaky sneaky” under the guise of “we have to do it for the children”. SCHIP is the latest example of feeding misinformation to the American public by the do-gooders of this country, those who know what is best for you. SCHIP, the federally mandated State Children’s Health Insurance Program, is a truly needed and valiant effort on the part of Congress to provide health insurance to the kids of what are described as the nation’s working poor. Enacted in 1997, it was directed at those families who made too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but whose income was as such that it would put an “undue” financial burden on the family to purchase health insurance privately if not provided by an employer. As originally designed, it covered those families whose income was under 20