April 25, 2007 - Catholic Leaders Urge Healthcare for Children in 2008 Federal Budget

[This resource is also available as a PDF handout/action alert.]

Catholics leaders signed a joint statement March 19, 2007, urging increased funding in the FY2008 budget so that 9 million uninsured children in the U.S. can have access to healthcare. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Chairman of the Domestic Policy Committee for the U.S. Catholic Bishops, Sr. Carol Keehan, President and CEO of the Catholic Health Association (CHA), and Fr. Larry Snyder, President of Catholic Charities USA, each signed the letter.

Catholic Social Teaching

"As Catholic organizations united by our common faith and committed to the principles of Catholic social teaching, we recognize and affirm the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death and the inherent dignity of every human being," the Catholic leaders said in the letter.

They continued: "We consider access to adequate health care to be a basic human right, necessary for the development and maintenance of life and for the ability of human beings to realize the fullness of their dignity. A just society is one that protects and promotes fundamental human rights and dignity, with special attention to meeting the basic needs of children and the vulnerable, including the need for safe and affordable health care."

The Catholic community has played a historical role as "the largest nongovernmental provider of human services and health care to low income families," the leaders wrote. But the work of the Church is about more than providing services, as detailed in the policy recommendations that were the focus of the leaders' letter.

Policy Recommendations

In their letter, the Catholic leaders criticized the allotment in the proposed U.S. FY2008 budget of only $5 billion in additional funding over five years for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a program that provides health coverage for low-income children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid. Currently, the Catholic leaders said, only four million children are enrolled in SCHIP, while nine million children remain uninsured.

The $5 billion appropriated to SCHIP in the FY2008 budget "will not be sufficient even to continue covering those currently enrolled in SCHIP, let alone covering additional eligible children," the Catholic leaders declared. If SCHIP is funded at the level proposed in the FY2008, the inadequate funding would cause enrollment in SCHIP to fall by 1.6 million over five years, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.1 To maintain enrollment and to extend coverage to the eligible children not yet enrolled in the program, $60 billion will be needed over the next five years. "We strongly urge you to make sure the budget resolution includes enough resources for these purposes," the Catholic leaders wrote.

Another concern is that the President's plan will reduce the contribution made by the federal government for healthcare for children in families with incomes above 200 percent of the poverty line (just over $34,000 for a family of three in 2007). Instead of covering 70 percent of the costs of this category of children, only 57 percent of costs would be covered, shifting the funding burden to states. Undoubtedly, "[t]he Administration's proposal would require states to limit SCHIP eligibility levels" to this category of children, according to the Catholic leaders. They continued, "[W]e are concerned that this restriction could eliminate health coverage for many children who are currently covered under the program. Congress should make no changes that would increase the number of uninsured children."

Catholic leadership also expressed concern about the President's proposed cuts to Medicaid (by $24.7 billion over five years) and Medicare (by $66 billion over five years). The leaders stated, "While it is appropriate to look for ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs, we urge you to scrutinize these proposals very carefully." The cuts are not likely to lead to improvements in the programs, they said, and "[t]his could result in low-income families, people with disabilities, and seniors facing higher payments for services or even losing coverage altogether. The proposals could also severely threaten the ability of many Catholic hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities to serve their communities and could further unravel an already frail health care safety net. We urge you to reject any funding reductions in Medicaid or Medicare that could result in less access to health care for those in need."

1 Park, Edwin and Matthew Broaddus. "SCHIP Reauthorization: President's Budget Would Provide Less than Half the Funds that States Need to Maintain SCHIP Enrollment," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Mar. 13, 2007) http://www.cbpp.org/2-22-07health.htm.

Links to Learn More

The text of the joint letter signed by the Catholic leaders to expand funding for SCHIP is available at the CHA website at www.chausa.org/.

The website for Cover the Uninsured Week (April 23-29), has links to PDF fact sheets on SCHIP and on access to health insurance by various demographic populations at http://covertheuninsured.org/.

The National Priorities Project has an Interactive Income Tax Chart, which shows what percent of your tax dollars in 2006 were spent on different categories of the budget (e.g. healthcare, defense, education, debt interest, etc.). Please see: http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=287&Itemid=0.

Questions for Reflection or Discussion

1. Why do people of faith and other citizens often call the budget a "moral document"? How does a federal budget reveal a country's priorities?

2. The Catholic leaders state that their call for adequate funding for SCHIP, Medicaid, and Medicare is inspired by their commitment to Catholic social teaching. Relate health care for children to the following Catholic social teaching principles:

• Option for the Poor and the Vulnerable
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Human Dignity
• Community and the Common Good
• Solidarity

3. What options exist for a parent who does not receive health insurance through a job, cannot afford to pay for it out-of-pocket, and earns a little too much to qualify for Medicaid? How is access to health care related to support for families?

4. Estimate the amount of money you or your family pay(s) in federal taxes each year and enter that amount into the Interactive Income Tax Chart on the National Priorities Project website. Do you think that U.S. budgetary priorities are as they should be? How might you change them to better reflect CST values?

Take Action

Print and send a letter to your congressional representatives in the House and the Senate urging them to guarantee appropriate funding for SCHIP, Medicare, and Medicaid in the FY2008 budget. A printable Action Letter can be found on page 4 of the EfJ resource found here.

Prayer for the Children of our Country

God of All,

Catholic leaders in the U.S. have raised critical questions at cuts in funding to children's health programs in the federal budget.

In a time when billions are channeled toward war, help us, as a people, to re-evaluate our spending priorities.

As the budget goes before Congress, we pray that we might have the strength and courage to remind our country that the budget is a moral document.

We pray for vision and wisdom for our leaders, so that they might create a budget that is sensitive to the needs of the most vulnerable, especially children.

Amen.

By Jill Rauh, Education for Justice, www.educationforjustice.org