"CHIP was created to provide health insurance to children of the working poor. But the Texas Senate's vote today to extend CHIP to families making up to $66,000 per year morphs the program into an expensive entitlement for the middle class. Why would we consider expanding CHIP when we still aren't enrolling more than 170,000 children already eligible under the current guidelines?
"Rather than expand taxpayer-funded programs, our legislators' time would be better spent on developing reforms that would make private insurance a more attractive and accessible option for Texans."
Andrea Whitman is a health care policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.
– 30 –