Bush Speaks To Governors

Monday, February 26th 2007, 11:25 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush encouraged governors Monday to support his call for changing the tax code to help more people buy private health care insurance, but did not address their pleas to increase funding for a health care program that insures millions of children of the working poor.

The budget dispute dominated discussions among governors Sunday, who promised to bring the matter to Bush and his Cabinet officials to their private meetings Monday.

At stake is coverage for 6 million people, overwhelmingly children, as well as the hopes of many governors in tackling the larger challenge of the uninsured. All governors rely on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, intended to aid uninsured working families.

Bush, welcoming the governors after they met privately with several administration officials, did not offer any comments about the children's health program, talking rather about his larger proposals.

``I'm looking forward to working with Congress on health care. I firmly believe ... that states are often times the best place to reform systems and work on programs that meet needs,'' he said.

On Sunday, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, said that the children's health insurance program was a bipartisan issue.

And Gov. Jon Corzine, a New Jersey Democrat, warned that the administration's budget promised illusory savings. ``You end up paying for this in other ways _ uncompensated care, emergency rooms,'' Corzine said. ``This is pay me now or pay me later.''

Georgia and New Jersey are two of 14 states that are expected to run out of money for the children's health insurance program before the next budget year begins in October; in Georgia, it could happen as soon as March.

The governors want two things:

_Enough money to keep the program afloat through October. That is estimated at $745 million.

_Changes to Bush's budget. Analysts say his spending plan would shortchange the health program even if the number of people served did not grow. The long-term shortfall is put at $10 billion to $15 billion over the next five years.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said he had met privately with governors, and would keep talking. But he offered little hope that the administration would accept governors' demands.

Bush welcomed the governors to a formal dinner at the White House Sunday night and said he looked forward to talking with governors about health care, along with homeland security and immigration. ``I believe if we work together we can do a lot of good things,'' he said.

The program, approved in 1997, covers uninsured children whose families earn too much to fall under Medicaid, the joint state-federal health care service for the poor.

More than a dozen states have expanded SCHIP, with consent of the federal government, to cover adults in those families. The program now insures an estimated 639,000 adults among its 6 million.

Many governors said the administration's efforts to scale back the program would undermine state efforts to craft universal health care plans. Many of these have started with a target of insuring all children.

California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have developed some of the most ambitious proposals to try to get to universal health care coverage. Most states have just tried to strengthen their health care system to cover more people.

At their private session Sunday, governors said there was bipartisan support for help on the immediate needs and a long-term commitment to the current program.

Leavitt said Sunday that there is enough money among states to cover short-term shortfalls, if states with surpluses would share with those with deficits, an idea that has little support among governors. Bush wants SCHIP to remain focused on poor children, not all children and not adults, Leavitt said.

Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., said he was confident that a compromise on the money can be found. He said the administration has been helpful to his efforts to expand coverage and approved a waiver that would let the state cover 180,000 more children. ``I want to give the administration high praise,'' he said.

But most were worried. In Rhode Island, GOP Gov. Don Carcieri said aggressive enrollment efforts had boosted their combined Medicaid and SCHIP program so that 94 percent of children were covered, at its height, before administrative hurdles and other problems caused some backsliding.

``We built all that up,'' Carcieri said. ``We don't want to pull the rug out.''