"From what I have read this would cover many people that are already covered by private insurance."

Alright, let's settle this once and for all. I have chosen some other sources that you might be more inclined to believe than me. There is even a picture in there for those of you who obviously haven't read all the other junk I posted.

1. The Associated Press
"At a cost of $35 billion over five years, the vetoed measure would have added nearly 4 million uninsured children to the insurance program. It provides coverage for those who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, but whose families cannot afford private health care.

2. The Catholic Health Association

"MYTH: Children currently covered by other private insurance plans will be moved into SCHIP under the reauthorization proposals in Congress.
FACT: According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, about two-thirds of the children who stand to gain coverage under the bills in Congress are currently uninsured."

3. Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families
"Perhaps most notable, CBO estimates that most of the children (84 percent) who would gain coverage under CHIPRA would be low-income children—children who already are eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid under existing guidelines (Figure 1). Research shows that nearly seven out of ten of all uninsured children are already eligible for SCHIP and Medicaid but are not enrolled. The bill targets the newly available resources to reach this group of low-income children.





Income Rules. Since SCHIP was first enacted, federal law has accorded states the flexibility to set the income levels for the children they will cover subject to available federal and state resources. CHIPRA imposes new constraints on that flexibility. If a state decides in the future to cover children with family incomes above 300 percent of the federal poverty level, the state may only receive the lower Medicaid matching rate. In addition, by 2010 any state that covers children in that income range will have to show that they are implementing “best practices” designed to limit crowd out and meeting ambitious standards for coverage rates of low-income children. In the interim, the bill directs the General Accounting Office and the Institute of Medicine to develop best practice guidelines and measures of crowd out and coverage rates. These new rules would replace the August 17, 2007 directive issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Coordination between Public and Private Coverage. The bill allows states to operate
premium assistance programs for families through Medicaid and SCHIP that are cost-effective and ensure that children retain access to the full Medicaid and SCHIP benefits package. CHIPRA also includes changes to other federal laws designed to improve coordination between public and private coverage, including making the gaining or loss of eligibility for Medicaid or SCHIP a “qualifying event” for the purposes of eligibility for employer-sponsored coverage; requiring employers to share information about their benefits package with states so that states can assess cost-effectiveness and the need for “wraparound” services; and requiring employers to notify families of their potential eligibility for premium assistance. The General Accountability Office (GAO) will also conduct a study on premium assistance. "