SCHIP

One of the US’s more vexing problems is health care. The poor and the wealthy are well looked after. Those in the middle class have a mixed bag. They find themselves with insurance coverage changing from year to year as employers seek to reduce health premiums. They find themselves in a plan that restricts which doctors and hospitals may be used.

The SCHIP program has allowed families that are not eligible for Medcare/Medicaid to receive help. The Democrats and a number of Republicans have voted to extend the program for another period of time and to increase the number of people able to be covered.

Last week the President decided to veto the legislation. The extension of the program and the increased coverage would cost less than two days in Iraq. As a response to the veto the Democrats put on national radio a twelve year old young man whose family has been helped by the program. The young man told how his family has been helped by the program. This is a hard working family who found itself in an unfortunate position yet who benefited from a federal health care support program.

In response, the Republican Party orchestrated blatant attack under the direction of Senator McConnell. Via Republican operatives and bloggers the Republican party has attacked the Frost family rather than engage in honest civil discourse. Where one person is willing to draw the line for eligibility and nature of services may differ with others.

The attacks by Republican operatives upon the Frost family are far from being civil, they are mean spirited. The attacks which include a shallow and distorted representation of the family’s history and the posting of their home address on the web indicates compassion that the Republican party proclaims is defined far differently than it is in most families. The mean spirit of the Republican leadership is unconscionable.

It is unfortunate that Congress does not live under the health care options of families like the Frost family. If they did, I suspect that they would quickly be making changes.