Deep Cuts Threaten Children's Health Care

With his bad cold, little Philip Robinson needed to see a doctor today. Philip Sr., the boy's father, works as a security guard. For a premium of $10 a month, the state gives his two kids comprehensive health coverage, through the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.

Without it, his sick son wouldn't be at the doctor, CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports.

"I can't afford it," Robinson says. "This is my safety net, and peace of mind and the health of the kids."

CHIP programs are for the working poor. They earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for private insurance.

But Georgia is one of 14 states with a CHIP program that's running out of money. Without help, within weeks, comprehensive coverage could end for millions of kids.

Georgia's program is in the worst shape. On Monday, the state will stop taking new applications and cut off any participant who misses a premium.

"This is not a joke," says Georgia program director Rhonda Meadows. "This is very serious and very real. I would not be sending out notices to these families, causing them to be concerned, if I did not have to."

The program was designed to insure lower-income kids, but other states now use it to cover parents, pregnant women, even adults without children. So naturally, the costs keep rising — and critics don't like it.

"You want to provide health care to people who need it," says Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute. "But you don't want to encourage people to become dependent on taxpayers."

But where critics see a move toward government-run health care, Philip Robinson only sees a sick son who needed to see a doctor.

"I'm very worried. And it's my prayer that the decision be reconsidered," Robinson says.

And without CHIP, Robinson says his family's basic health care will become an unaffordable luxury.