Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released a copy of the letter it sent to House and Senate related to H.R. 976, popularly known as SCHIP Reauthorization:

            “This week, you are scheduled to vote on the conference report to re-authorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  The conference report expands SCHIP by $35 billion over five years to $60 billion and attempts to fund it with a 61-cent increase in tobacco taxes.  Furthermore, to hide the bill’s true costs and evade PAYGO rules, the legislation increases federal spending for the next five years and then six months into 2012, cuts funding by 80 percent.  Since it is unlikely Congress will do this, taxpayers should hold on to their wallets.  On behalf of the more than 1.2 million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to oppose the conference report for SCHIP expansion.

            SCHIP was originally designed to assist low-income working families whose household income was too high to take advantage of Medicaid.  Currently, two-thirds of uninsured children are eligible for either SCHIP or Medicaid.  Instead of expanding SCHIP to cover children from higher income families, as this “re-authorization” does, Congress should concentrate on reducing the number of children who are currently eligible for coverage but are not yet enrolled.

            It is insidious to raise the tax on cigarette smokers to pay for the $35 billion in extra spending contained in the conference report.  The Congressional Research Service (RS22681) recently stated, “It is generally recognized that cigarette taxes are one of the most regressive taxes, that is, a tax that falls more heavily on lower income individuals as a percentage of income.  Indeed, it is probably the most regressive of the federal taxes.”  Since smoking is more prevalent among lower-income individuals, it is truly perverse that Congress is considering a tax on low-income individuals to pay for SCHIP expansion to help middle-income (and even upper-income) families obtain health insurance.

            Congress should support tax reforms to empower all families to obtain health insurance.  But this debate is not about providing needy children with health insurance; it is about expanding the government’s role in the delivery of healthcare and taking steps toward a government-run system.  All votes on the SCHIP conference report will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2007 Congressional Ratings.”

            The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.