Health Care Help For Families With Children

Our friend CH, who works on health care policy issues, helped get the Washington Post to focus, today, on the growing problem of families who lose health insurance for their kids when a parent loses a job.

See "Families Seeking Insurance for Kids."

States provide health insurance assistance for many lower middle and middle income families that don't otherwise qualify for assistance, through a federal program known as State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In the past couple of years, Congress has twice voted to expand SCHIP, which is a cost-effective program limited solely to children, only to have Pres. Bush exercise his veto.

With Obama coming in, Congress is preparing, once again, to expand the program, this time with the expectation that our new President will sign the bill.

It's just in time, because, as today's Post article aptly illustrates, the number of families and children in need is growing rapidly.