Majority Says SCHIP is Low-Income Program

A new poll on health care policy from USA Today finds a majority of Americans disagreeing with the extention of the Children's State Health Insurance Program to middle class families:

• 52% agree with Bush that most benefits should go to children in families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level — about $41,000 for a family of four. Only 40% say benefits should go to families earning up to $62,000, as the bill written by Democrats and some Republicans would allow.

• 55% are very or somewhat concerned that the program would create an incentive for families to drop private insurance. Bush and Republican opponents have called that a step toward government-run health care.

Taken together, the results show that while Bush may be losing the political battle with Democrats, he may be doing better on policy.

The public's actually more trusting of the Democrats to handle overall children's health reform, which is a bit contradictory given public opinion's firm opposition to the morphing of SCHIP into a middle class program. Americans are obviously concerned about health access, but they're not so bad off as to endorse a sneaky, underhanded Democratic social policy power grab.