The White House doesn't want to see the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expanded at the cost of eliminating government subsidies for private insurers in Medicare. While this might look bad to the public (poor kids generally garner more sympathy than health insurance companies), the NYT is quick to tell readers at the beginning of the article "the seemingly uncontroversial goal of insuring more children has become the focus of an ideological battle between the White House and Congress. The fight epitomizes fundamental disagreements over the future of the nation’s health care system and the role of government." How do we know that this is a battle over ideology and not just a case where the White House is doing the bidding of its campaign contributors in the insurance industry? Well, according to the article, Alan Hubbard, assistant to the president for economic policy, said that White House opposition to expanding SCHIP is “philosophical and ideological.” I guess that settles it. Hey, if the assistant to the president for economic policy said it, it must be true.
--Dean Baker
