October 17, 2007 7:08PM # I Challenge Paul Krugman to a Debate on SCHIP By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE [Democracy NOW!](http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/17/1352236) quotes *New York Times* columnist Paul Krugman on the [State Children’s Health Insurance Program](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8697): > the reason that Bush and much of the Republican leadership is so hostile to S‑CHIP is not because they think it’s a bad program, but because they think it’s a good program, and that terrifies them. What bothers them so much is the fact that it works. Why does Krugman think that SCHIP “works”? There is [no evidence](https://www.uipress.org/Template.cfm?Section=Bookstore&Template=/Ecommerce/ProductDisplay.cfm&Productid=4380) that the program is a cost-effective way of improving child health. It makes health care [more expensive](http://www.upenn.edu/ldi/duggan.pdf) for those outside the program. It does not address the [systemic](http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/15/1515) problems that lead to low-quality pediatric care. It reduces the benefits of education and work effort, [trapping families](http://www.riograndefoundation.org/new/articles/?EC=ReadArticle&ArticleID=114) in low-wage jobs. It covers four uninsured children for the price of [ten](http://www.nber.org/papers/w12858) … Krugman is an economist. Has he thought about these issues? Has he read any of this literature? What about this program “works”? It’s easy to [dismiss](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/opinion/12krugman.html) right-wing hacks. These issues … not so easy to dismiss. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).