AJC Article: Today Bush said no to P'care

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Bush says no to plugging PeachCare gapBy JAMES SALZER, BILL HENDRICK The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 02/06/07 President Bush on Monday denied a request for a stopgap budget that would have bailed out health insurance programs for children in Georgia and at least 13 other states.

The president's decision forces the states to appeal to Congress.

"The next step in the process is a legislative one, and we feel confident that Congress will step up to the plate," said Dan McLagan, a spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue.

State officials say federal money for PeachCare, which covers about 270,000 children of working-class families who can't afford private insurance, could run out in March.

The state pays about $67 million of the program's $330 million annual cost. The rest is supposed to come from the federal government.

On Friday, Democratic leaders asked the president to include a $745 million request for the State Children's Health Insurance Program in his emergency war spending plan for 2007.

Georgia lawmakers may take several weeks off over the next two months while waiting to see if Congress bails out the state's PeachCare program. That could push the 2007 session into April.

Lawmakers say they don't want to pass a midyear budget without making sure the money is available to keep the program afloat. The midyear spending plan includes extra money for schools and other needs for the final few months of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. It is usually approved in early March.

"We think it's the right thing to do to take some time off because we feel like if we go home without the PeachCare problem being resolved, we have not met our obligation to the people of Georgia," said House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-).

Lawmakers are in recess for the first three days of this week to work onthebudget.

Harbin said state lawmakers want to "give the federal government every opportunity" to fix the problem.

"There is a bill next week in Washington, and the funds we need could be put in that. Then there's an Iraqi resolution, and the money could go in that."

But if Congress doesn't come through in time, lawmakers said they would do what it takes to prevent children from losing insurance.

"If they don't act, we do have to fix PeachCare," Harbin said. "We'll step up. But we need to keep pressure on the Congress now. We are the only state that runs out of money in March."

Perdue's proposed midyear budget includes an extra $68.4 million for Medicaid expenses in fiscal 2008. Some of that could be used to fill the short-term gap in PeachCare, if necessary. However, agency officials say lawmakers would first have to pass legislation allowing the state to bail out PeachCare.

A Georgia State University think tank sent lawmakers a briefing paper Monday saying that the state's 273,000 children enrolled in PeachCare could lose their health insurance coverage "either temporarily or permanently within the next two months" if new funding isn't found.

Ketsche, associate professor in GSU's Institute of Health Administration and a fellow in the school's Georgia Health Policy Center, said it's far from certain that the Congress will provide needed funds to rescue Georgia's program.

"We're within weeks, at the best months, of running out of federal money," she said.

Gov. Sonny Perdue urged the U.S. Senate Finance Committee last week to save PeachCare, but he was met with skepticism from Republican senators.

House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wrote a letter to President Bush asking him to submit an emergency supplemental appropriations request that includes covering shortfalls for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, of which PeachCare is a part.

PeachCare insures families in Georgia with incomes up to about $47,000 for a family of four. Families pay premiums of up to $70 a month.

Georgia needs an extra $58 million through June 30 and $131 million through Oct. 1 to fund the program, Harbin said.

Staff writer Mike and the Associated Press contributed to this report.