Thursday, June 19, 2008

Big Government in ... Montana?

By John LaPlante

Categories: Montana, SCHIP

The effort (which I mentioned a while ago) to funnel children into a government-run health care plan in Montana is one step closer to realization.

Initiative 155 has qualified for a spot on the fall ballot. The proposal would expand the state's SCHIP program by making some middle-class families eligible. Currently, only those with incomes at 175% of the federal poverty level qualify; I-155 raises that to 250%.

It also uses schools and youth sports leagues, among other organizations, as recruiters for this exercise in government expansion.

Given the state's population, the plan to add 30,000 children to SCHIP would mean that 1 in 7 children would be dependent on government.

The story is a good example of how federal strings pervert public policy. There are many different ways of expanding the number of children with insurance (and even more importantly, improving their health). But federal matching funds--80% is the number cited here--make SCHIP expansion the "easy" way out.