Congress Begins Congressional Review Act Process To Overrule CMS's Limits on SCHIP Expansion

Senators Max Baucus (D - Montana) and Jay Rockefeller (D - West Virginia) have introduced a joint resolution expressing congressional disapproval of the Bush administration’s limits on expansions of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) issued in the infamous "August 17th Directive."   A directive is a mere clarification of existing law that does not require congressional review or public comment.  The August 17th letter limited states' abilities to expand their SCHIP programs to include children from families with incomes exceeding 250 percent of the federal poverty level unless that state could certify it had already signed up at least 95 percent of children living in households with incomes below 200 percent of poverty.  State authorities contend this requirement is impossible to meet. 

Both the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded that and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) action was a rule rather than a directive and therefore CMS unlawfully bypassed congressional review when it acted to limit expansion of State SCHIP programs.