S-CHIP is clearly causing some pain at Kuhl HQ. In the past couple of days, his office has made two new (to him) claims about the program, all in an apparent attempt to dodge the contention that he voted against America's kids.
The first claim is a press release which says that Kuhl actually voted for S-CHIP, because he voted for a continuing resolution that funded S-CHIP at its current levels. That near-unanimous vote was stopgap measure to prevent expiration of the current program while Congress and the President went through the veto-override-redraft cycle with the new version of the program. Kuhl did vote for it, but the headline ("Kuhl votes to Extend Childrens Healthcare with SCHIP") is extremely misleading -- the "extension" that everyone (but Kuhl) talks about is the real bill, not this temporary measure.
The second, and more interesting, argument concerns S-CHIP eligibility in New York State. The New York income limit for S-CHIP is 400% of the poverty line, which is a little over $80K for a family of four. Randy makes much of this in a recent blog post, and it is a real issue. The Water Buffalo Press has an in-depth examination that's worth reading. It includes a look at the eligibility requirements versus the stated rationale for S-CHIP. Realistically, most people at 400% of poverty have health coverage through their work. It's worth asking how raising the limit that high in New York will benefit low-income families who can't afford insurance.
Though this is the first time that Kuhl has raised this objection, it's a common Republican talking point. I asked Eric Massa about it three weeks ago. In essence, his response was that the issue comes down to the bottom line of how we distribute health care in this country. That's true, and it's a discussion we need to have. Unfortunately, the S-CHIP discussion is now at a soundbite level. Judging from Kuhl's various attempts to spin his S-CHIP vote, the Democrats' soundbite (Republicans vote against children) is sticking.