This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
WASHINGTON - Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, Utah's former governor, is fighting a move by Democrats to boost children's health care by up to $50 billion.
And he says he'd be against it even if he were still governor and looking at millions of dollars more in federal funds for needy children in Utah.
Leavitt told a group of reporters Wednesday that the struggle between the Bush administration and Congress over the amount to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is about an ideological battle over who should run health care: the government or the private sector.
Leavitt was previously an executive and owner in a family owned insurance company. He divested more than $5 million worth of stock in the firm in 2005 after being named head of HHS.
The CHIP program will expire at the end of September unless Congress reauthorizes it, but the White House only wants to boost the $25 billion program by $5 billion. Congress wants to enlarge it by up to $50 billion over the course of five years.
About 27,000 Utah children are covered by CHIP. Utah pays $1 towards the care for every $4 doled out by the federal government.
Leavitt, who served 11 years as Utah's governor and was key in getting the CHIP program started in 1997, says the Democratically controlled Congress' approach is part of an effort to have the government run all health care. He calls the move "radical."
Leavitt says President Bush supports the CHIP program and wants it reauthorized to ensure all those now receiving care will still be covered. But Leavitt says Bush will veto the legislation if Congress goes above his recommended $5 billion increase.
"What we do not support is a huge expansion of the program," Leavitt said.
The proposed $5 billion increase added to a unspent $4.4 billion, Leavitt argues, would cover those currently enrolled in the program through 2013.
"If I was governor right now, I'd have the same position and it's the same position as in 1997," he said, referring to concerns he expressed then that the program not turn into a universal health care system.
In Utah, an estimated 45,000 children who qualify under the CHIP program are not enrolled and even if they all applied, there would not be enough money to cover them, according to Nathan Checketts, who oversees the state program.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has argued that the Senate plan of an additional $35 billion is a compromise that the Bush administration should accept. He says it's better than the Democrats' proposal of $50 billion.
"I am tremendously proud of what we have achieved in the past decade," Hatch said at a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing. "I believe the bill we consider today captures the true essence of the 1997 law and builds on that foundation to insure even more children."
Hatch said he wishes it did not cost as much as it does, but that it's necessary to spend that amount to help cover the estimated six million children who qualify for the program.
The House is expected to take up its bill this week while the Senate will tackle it next week.
* Children's Health Insurance Program, set up to help kids with no private coverage, will expire at the end of September unless Congress reauthorizes it.
* The White House wants to add $5 billion to the $25 billion program. Congress wants a $50B boost.
* Mike Leavitt, Utah's ex-governor, says the huge boost is a bad idea and will be vetoed by President Bush.
* In Utah, an estimated 45,000 children who qualify under the CHIP program are not enrolled and if they all applied, there may not be enough money to cover them.