More on SCHIP

As I mentioned in a previous post today, Bush has threatened to veto the multi-billion dollar expansions being proposed to SCHIP.  One of the things that proponents of expanding the program really want to do is dramatically increase the income level of those who qualify, so that, in New York, families making 400% of the poverty level, or $82,000 a year, would qualify for taxpayer-funded health insurance.  It’s a pretty blatant example of the Left’s "sneaky sequentialist" approach to expanding government-funded health insurance rolls.

Fortunately, Bush seems to be making good on his promise not to go along with any of the proposed expansions:

The Bush administration on Friday rejected a request from New York State to expand its children’s health insurance program to cover 70,000 more uninsured youngsters, including some from middle-income families. The ruling was the first application of a restrictive new White House policy that has drawn ferocious criticism from Democrats since it was announced last month. New York wanted to expand its program to cover children in families with incomes up to four times as much as the federal poverty level, or $82,600 for a family of four.

Seems pretty telling that a program sold under the guise of helping the poor ends up getting used this way.