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Chambliss explains his PeachCare vote

• PeachCare should only cover kids, Saxby Chambliss says.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Moultrie, said he voted against a bill that renews funding for Georgia’s PeachCare because it expanded coverage to adults and to families earning more than the program was intended, and did so through a new tax on tobacco products.

Both the U.S. Senate and House approved a $50 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, that Bush has threatened to veto. Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, R-Sandy Springs, voted against the Senate bill, which passed 68-31.

Chambliss said he favored an alternative bill that would expand SCHIP, PeachCare’s federal funding source, by only $10 billion.

“We’re up to about 290,000 (insured) now and (PeachCare) is working well,” Chambliss said, “and we need to make sure that all of those children will continue to be covered.”

The alternative bill, sponsored by Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, capped families’ eligibility at 250 percent of the poverty level and restricted coverage for uninsured adults, he said.

“What I voted against is a bill that broadens the SCHIP program to the point that Georgia taxpayers are going to be paying for health coverage for adults,” said Chambliss.

Fourteen states have expanded their SCHIP-funded programs to cover uninsured adults, he said.

“That’s not what the program is designed for,” Chambliss said. “This program is designed to insure children.”

Currently under PeachCare, a family of four earning $40,000 a year is eligible for PeachCare. The bill expanded coverage to families of four earning up to $60,000, 300 percent of the poverty level, he said.

“It’s a reasonable level. I don’t think you need to raise it to 300 percent.”

Chambliss also noted his opposition to the bill’s use of a 61-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes and 53.3 percent tax on cigars to fund the $35 billion expansion.

Supporters will need a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress to override a Bush veto.

“At the end of the day once it comes out of conference, I hope that there will be a compromise bill that I can support,” he said.

Georgia froze enrollment for PeachCare in March when demand for the insurance overshot state funds by $131 million. Enrollment was reopened last month after the state legislature approved emergency funding for the shortfall.

The shortfall was caused by additional children coming under the program during the last two years and not a shortage of federal funds, he said.

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