Does SCHIP Work?

by Michael F. Cannon - February 2nd, 2009 - National Review

SCHIP’s great expense stems from the fact that in many cases, it simply enrolls children who were already insured privately. Economists Jonathan Gruber and Kosali Simon estimate that out of every ten children added to the SCHIP rolls, six already had private coverage. Only in government is a program deemed to “work” when it covers four uninsured children for the price of ten.

The current proposal will only exacerbate this problem. Congressional Democrats want to expand SCHIP to children in families of four earning up to $80,000 per year. The Congressional Budget Office reports that 77 percent of such children already have private health insurance.

That will allow us to fund a program where only two out of ten children covered are actually getting any benefit while taxpayers pay for all ten. Where else but under a government program could someone claim success paying for ten children in order to get two children insurance.

Is this sane?