Washington Post Urges Retention in Budget of Smith-Wyden Plan to Expand Medicaid, CHIP

House and Senate budget negotiators should retain a $28 billion, three-year plan sponsored by Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to reduce the number of uninsured, according to a Washington Post editorial. While the details remain unresolved, the proposal would target low-income Americans through expansions in Medicaid and/or the CHIP program (Washington Post, 5/2). The plan, which passed the Senate by a voice vote on April 5, also would employ tax credits, and could cover up to 20 million Americans without health coverage (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/10). The editorial states that the Smith-Wyden plan is a "modest expansion," but preferable to the tax credit proposal offered by the Bush administration, which would only have a "limited" effect on the uninsured. Medicaid and CHIP "have shown themselves to be efficient ways of increasing coverage," the editorial states, adding that lawmakers should pass the Smith-Wyden plan regardless of the "fate of the tax credit." The Post concludes: "The budget argument this year has been mainly about how large a tax cut to give the better-off. What about a timeout to pay a little heed to those who can't afford to get sick?" (Washington Post, 5/2).