The following appeared in the Memphis Commercial Appeal's Opinon Page.

I'd like to highlight some of the critical shortcomings that prompted the Tennessee House Republican delegation, a strong majority of our GOP colleagues and several Democrat members to oppose passage of the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) bill (Sept. 27 editorial, "Blackburn faces key decision").

We are committed to expanding access to quality health care to all Americans, especially disadvantaged children, but this bill will not advance those efforts. By expanding the definition of "poor" to include those making $82,000 per year or more, SCHIP will enroll 1.2 million more people by 2012. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 600,000 of those have private health insurance today. This bill would provide strong incentive for individuals and employers to dump private coverage and shift these costs to taxpayers -- at an estimated $74,000 per person annually. Here in Tennessee we saw a similar stampede to state-run coverage cripple the TennCare system.

Another troubling part of the bill is the removal of proof-of-citizenship requirements for enrollment. The bill also dramatically increases federal funding to enroll new children in SCHIP for the next five years -- funding that is partially offset by a tax increase. Then in 2012 the bill abruptly cuts total SCHIP funding by 80 percent. Unless Congress intervenes, millions of children will then lose coverage. CBO estimates that by 2017, SCHIP will have a $40 billion hole in it.

The disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments problem began 1993 when then-Gov. Ned McWherter and President Clinton agreed to forgo charitable care reimbursements when TennCare was created. Since then, Tennessee's congressional delegation has worked to secure federal money to offset losses incurred by hospitals like the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. As much as we would like to see permanent restoration of DSH payments, we cannot accept them as part of a larger legislative package that would export some of the worst aspects of TennCare to the rest of the country.

I continue to support a reauthorization of SCHIP in its original form, and I will continue to oppose efforts to expand government control over our health care choices.

Marsha Blackburn
U.S. Representative, 7th Congressional District Tennessee