Politics

Spitzer to Sue Bush Admin Over New SCHIP Rules

I could hardly contain myself when I saw Eliot Spitzer’s diary from yesterday in the Daily Kos. Spitzer, and several other governors, are filing a lawsuit challenging the new rules that the Bush administration has put in place to limit the ability of states to expand their SCHIP plans. The press release outlining the particulars of the lawsuit can be found here.

Last month, new federal rules were announced governing the expansion of state plans under the federal State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) blocking New York’s legislatively approved expansion of children’s health insurance, as well as expansions or pending plans in 17 other states and the District of Columbia. The federal decision was based on arbitrary rules that are not supported by the statute that established SCHIP and defies Congressional intent.

The bureaucratic barriers to coverage the Bush Administration has imposed are not only fundamentally misguided, but also illegal. They conflict with the statute authorizing SCHIP. Moreover, they were issued without the opportunity for public comment, as required by federal law. Accordingly, I have joined Democratic and Republican governors from states across the country to bring a lawsuit challenging these new rules in court.

A separate press release was issued to announce the lawsuit.

Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced that a group of states will be pursuing legal challenges against the Bush Administration for violating provisions of the federal State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides affordable health coverage for children in families that cannot afford to buy private health insurance.

The state action was triggered in August when the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) arbitrarily imposed new rules that block states from expanding their children’s health insurance programs. Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, Arizona, California and New Hampshire will participate in litigation, either as plaintiffs or by filing supporting briefs, against the Bush Administration for violating the provisions of the SCHIP statute.

Even if Congress can’t muster the votes needed to override the Bush veto on the SCHIP bill, maybe the governors can push the issue from the legal angle, since it is the states that are directly affected by this legislation.

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