State wisely invests in children's health

VICKY and Dewayne McIntyre could be any one of us struggling in a down economy to afford health-care premiums and medicine for an 8-year-old with heart and lung problems and asthma.

Washington state priorities correctly put children first and the Yakima couple's daughter, Sarah, is covered under the State Children's Health Insurance Program or SCHIP.

Credit us for being one of only 13 states swimming against a recessionary economic tide to cover children from families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or $54,930 for a family of three.

A recent New York Times story chronicled the McIntyres downward spiral in credit-card debt and payday loans as they struggled to pay — at one point $880 a month — for medicine for their daughter.

After food, shelter and other essentials, what family has $900 a month available to buy medicine?

Poor children are covered by Medicaid. But tens of thousands of children are left without coverage, including those from middle-class families struggling to get by without employer-sponsored health insurance.

Record job losses in recent months mean a rise in the number of uninsured. Washington's choice is to consign these children to emergency-room care or to provide health care coverage. Lawmakers smartly chose the latter.

Lingering concern that SCHIP may attract families that can afford private insurance will be addressed by annual reports starting in 2010. The reports by the Department of Social and Health Services will measure enrollment and determine if families are moving from private plans. If so, legislative adjustments will be necessary. For now, SCHIP is doing what it was intended to do: provide a safety net for children.