Instead of embracing an opportunity to restore the Children's Health Insurance Program, a Texas legislator used a point of order to delay action on the government health program for low-income children.

Given the stakes, the parlimentary maneuver reveals a cold, narrow-minded view toward Texas children. The families enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program aren't slackers — these are folks who work every day but don't earn enough to buy private health insurance. Parents are not covered by CHIP — only their children. Make no mistake, when legislators hedge on CHIP, they shortchange needy Texas children. Their opposition can't be explained financially because CHIP is a government program that has worked well and makes economic sense. When House Bill 109 restoring CHIP returns to the House in the next week or so, lawmakers should pass it.

Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured children in the nation — 20 percent — or 1.4 million kids. Despite that, the Legislature made draconian changes to CHIP in 2003 that caused its rolls to sharply decline — from about 500,000 children to about 325,000.
Lawmakers should grab this chance to reverse a bad decision. The bill by Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, won't extend health insurance to all the children who need it, but it would remove the obstacles that did the most damage.

Turner's bill would simplify CHIP sign-ups, allowing families to apply once a year instead of every six months. That would greatly reduce paperwork and expense for the state while deterring abuse of the system.

It also makes sense to eliminate the 90-day waiting period for children, as the bill does, so that kids can get medical coverage — and care — as soon as possible. Turner's bill also would soften the assets test, another provision that reduced enrollment. The assets test ended up punishing families by counting against them child care expenses or cars and vehicles valued at more than $15,000.

We agree with adjusting the assets test but believe it should be done by administrative rule rather than by law.

There are so many reasons to expand CHIP, economic and moral. The CHIP program saves local taxpayers money. Families take their children to doctors when they have CHIP rather than hospital emergency rooms, where the care is more expensive. Local taxpayers pick up the emergency room tabs for the uninsured.

Moreover, children without health insurance are 25 percent more likely to miss school because of illness, and Texas school districts lose $4 million per day in funding because of absenteeism.

We also should point out that CHIP is a good investment for Texas: The federal government provides $2.57 for every $1 the state puts into CHIP. Over the years, Turner notes that Texas has left nearly $900 million in federal dollars on the table by not fully financing CHIP.

It offends Texans' sensibilities that, given the opportunity, the Legislature would not extend health coverage for needy families who, by the way, pay premiums for CHIP. Turner's bill would add 100,000 more children to the program.

That's 100,000 more who would get medical care while their illnesses are in early stages instead of waiting for a crisis. That's 100,000 more who would not go to emergency rooms for treatment of minor ailments.

Legislators should get over an attitude that kids don't deserve health coverage if their parents can't afford it. Pass CHIP and protect Texas children.