GOP Grandmother Attacks Perry

Sounding like a challenger in the 2006 governor's race, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn gave Gov. Rick Perry a verbal pasting Wednesday, asserting that her Republican colleague needs pressure to act on public education and reverse health care cuts.

Advocates are poised today to mark the fourth anniversary of the Texas Children's Health Insurance Program by bemoaning an enrollment drop of nearly 120,000 children to 388,000 participants since last summer.

Lawmakers tightened CHIP access last year to save money. Changes include a 90-day waiting period between signing up and enrollment, increased co-payments, and requiring families to enroll their children every six months rather than annually.

Strayhorn said Perry should free up $583 million in available funds to restore CHIP, and also return benefits such as eyeglasses and hearing aids to adult Medicaid recipients.

She said Perry also should tell his appointed commissioner of health and human services to cancel plans to restrict CHIP access based on family assets, a change coming next month projected to whittle enrollment by an additional 4,700 children.