Posted on 10/09/2007 5:21:39 AM PDT by radar101
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: With debate raging in Washington over children's health insurance, congressional Democrats found a new way to make their case for an expansion last weekend: Rather than have a senator or a congressman respond to President Bush's weekly radio address, they decided to have a child who was helped by the program speak directly to the public.
But the 12-year-old boy whom Democrats chose as their poster child is now at the center of a firestorm in Washington and beyond. Conservative bloggers who uncovered some details of the family's finances are blasting the family, calling the fact that they rely on federal insurance an example of how the State Children's Health Insurance Program has expanded beyond its original intent.
According to Senate Democratic aides, some bloggers have made repeated phone calls to the home of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, demanding information about his family's private life. On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused GOP leadership aides of "pushing falsehood" in an effort to distract from the political battle over S-CHIP.
"This is a perverse distraction from the issue at hand," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, D-Nev. "Instead of debating the merits of providing health care to children, some in GOP leadership and their right-wing friends would rather attack a 12-year-old boy and his sister who were in a horrific car accident."
Manley cited an e-mail sent to reporters by a Senate Republican leadership aide, summing up recent blog traffic about the boy's family. A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to comment on Manley's charge that GOP aides were complicit in spreading disparaging information about Frosts.
In making the case for a proposed expansion of the S-CHIP program, Democrats found a boy who seemed like an ideal poster child in Graeme Frost, a Baltimore native whose family does not have private health insurance.
When Graeme and his sister were seriously injured in a 2004 car crash, their parents relied on S-CHIP coverage to help them recover. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office became aware of the Frosts through a healthcare interest group, FamiliesUSA, Democratic leaders turned to Graeme to deliver the party's weekly radio address Sept. 29.
"If it weren't for CHIP, I might not be here today," Frost said in the address, which was written by Senate Democratic aides. "We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the CHIP program. But there are millions of kids out there who don't have CHIP, and they wouldn't get the care that my sister and I did if they got hurt."
But after a largely positive story about Frost appeared in the Baltimore Sun, conservative-leaning bloggers began focusing on details of Frost's family situation. They suggested the family makes the conservative argument -- that the children's health insurance program has strayed from its original purpose by subsidizing healthcare for middle-class families, not just poor children.
A blogger on FreeRepublic.com discovered that Frost and his sister, Gemma, attend a private school where tuition costs $20,000 a year. Their father, Halsey, is a self-employed woodworker, meaning that if his family doesn’t have health insurance, it’s because Halsey Frost -- as his own boss -- chooses not to purchase it for himself.
"One has to wonder that if time and money can be found to remodel a home, send kids to exclusive private schools, purchase commercial property and run your own business . . . maybe money can be found for other things," a blogger with the handle "icwhatudo" wrote on FreeRepublic.
That posting was widely circulated in the blogosphere, making great fodder for conservatives who argue that President Bush was right to veto the Democrats’ bill expanding S-CHIP.
"People make choices and it's clear the Frosts have made choice to invest in property and a business, but not in private health insurance," Mark Tapscott, editorial page editor of The Washington Examiner, wrote on his blog.
But Manley say conservative bloggers didn't dig deep enough. It turns out that the Frost children attend Baltimore’s Park School on near-full scholarships; they pay roughly $500 per child per year in tuition, he said.
Like many small-business owners, Halsey Frost can't even afford to provide health insurance to himself, Manley said.
"Last year, the Frost's made $45,000 combined," Manley said. "Over the past few years they have made no more than $50,000 combined depending on Halsey's ability to find work."
The Frost family did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
But this is truly private information. All icwhatudo did was report the tuition costs of Park School. Whether that is paid by a scholarship or by the grandparents is none of anyone's business, it just shows that the Frost family is not a poor, helpless, sad-sack group of people, who are utterly dependent on Harry Reid's control of tax dollars to bail them out.
Interesting and outrageous. More rich people soaking the taxpayers. Doesn't seem likely though that disability due to the SUV accident is the basis for the Frost's childrens' alleged "almost full scholarships."
FReeper Victoria did some research and posted this earlier:
Graeme is back in the same private school he attended before his accident.
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:TzrX5nQjzaAJ:www.kennedykrieger.org/kki_touch_article.jsp%3Fpid%3D4884+gemma+frost%2Bcar+accident&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Excellent point.
RE:A blogger on FreeRepublic.com discovered that Frost and his sister, Gemma, attend a private school where tuition costs $20,000 a year.
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These “news” agencies cannot tell the truth EVER! Graeme and his sister’s school affiliation was mentioned on the radio in Baltimore BEFORE his broadcast even aired. It was also in the original Baltimore SUN article about the family.
I guess the fact that FreeRepublic took up discussion of the story, becomes “discovery.” How the people whose trade is the use of words, distort and misuse the tools of their trade.
It’s not real hard to check the school web site, which is what I did before I posted:
“Park enrolls students based on their talents and capabilities. Families who are unable to meet the full cost of tuition may apply for the Financial Assistance Program, which supplements tuition payments. Financial assistance does not need to be repaid.
In 2007, 18% of Park students in grades 1-12 received over $2 million in financial assistance that ranged from $1,000 per year to full tuition. Tuition remission for children of our faculty brings that total to 25% of the student body.”
You said:
“The fact is, financial aid officers at those schools will laugh in your face if you ask them about need-based scholarships for a non-URM (”underrepresented minority”) student. Non-URM parents are expected to take on a huge loan.”
Really? I wonder how it is then that a very white, very poor girl from the city where I live recently got a huge need-based scholarship from Harvard?
“Thanks for clearing up that your original post #80 (”The scholarships are based on need”) was just something you pulled out of your made up.”
Nope. I never said the kids have scholarships — although others have said that. I DID say the school gives need-based scholarships, a fact you can verify by doing what I did, going to the school’s web site.
Maybe you should check your facts every now and then — just for fun.
Thanks, Victoria. I think my original speculation that the kids were not wearing seat belts was wrong, if the car hit sideways.
But then brother would not be sitting “behind”.
Horrible accident. I cannot imagine what the parents and grandparents went through.
I am so glad that the kids survived and are up and about.
“You wonder how the Frosts would be able to spend over $1200 a month to procure Health Insurance.”
Mr. Frost owns a small business, and he would be eligible for small group insurance in Maryland.
My own small business has small group insurance in Maryland. We have Health Savings Accounts combined with deductibles and co-pays. My own plan has a $2,400 per year per family deductible, with a 10% co-pay up until I’ve paid $6,800 out of pocket. My plan costs me over $10,000 per year. It’s a PPO, and thus, although the out-of-pocket costs are not insubstantial, and the premiums are high, it is a very, very good plan. I thank God for it, as my younger son just spent 11 days in Johns Hopkins for a very serious condition. Because we have a very good policy, no one ever asked us about 1) money 2) in-network vs. out-of-network 3) less costly diagnostic or treatment options mandated by the insurance company 4) referrals from primary care providers.
But even our least expensive family HMO, with a $4,000 per year initial deductible, runs about $8,000 per year.
Mr. Frost could obtain the same insurance that I have, but the costs would vary, depending on his age band. Our average age is just over 40, and thus, we’re in the 40 - 42 (or is it 40 - 41?) age band.
If his age band is higher, he could easily be looking at $1,000 per month or more for my policy. If it’s lower, then less.
As well, if he and his wife would be the only two covered employees, it would be necessary to take out a policy for one of them with the children, and for one of them as a single individual, since small group policies require at least two covered persons. That would bring costs up to close to around $800 per month even for a high-deductible restrictive HMO policy, at least for my company.
The equivalent non-HSA, no-high deductible policy that I could have obtained would have run about $1,500 per month.
sitetest
For that matter they might have finagled a way to write off tuition for their kids...
I wondered these same things. On paper my husband makes a lot of money. But, we make about this same amount. On top of that if the dad is self employed and not incorporated, then he has taxes coming out the wazoo to pay each year. We're actually in debt highly because of expenses that came up over my husband's business.
If their situation is in fact different than what it appears to be, I wonder why refuse to comment? They were certainly more than willing to trot out their family's situation before people started asking questions.
In any case, I don't want to hear from a spokesman what their situation is. I'd like to hear it from them. How about it, Mr. and Mrs. Frost?
Even if I took their word on that, my eyebrows raised at the other portion of your comment.
They have a house that is worth over 350,000.00, and their mortgage is only 1200.00 per month?
Both figures, insurance costs and mortgage payment, seem off to me.
Is money unspent due to a scholarship have any value?
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S-CHIP is administered by each state, with individual rules in each state. Maryland is such a royal blue state that assets are not taken into consideration for purposes of qualifying for the income ceiling, which, by the way, in Maryland is THREE TIMES the poverty rate.
Bingo! Needs to be said louder and more often.
I guess the RATs have never heard of "public records".
If the Frosts just wanted to cover the kids, why not enroll them in MD's SCHIP program?
IIRC, the state does not require that an asset test be met in order to cover kids.
Reilly told Malkin that he believed the Frost’s wealthy parents paid the childrens’ tuition at the Park School.
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That was always my most likely source of their school funds. However, it is possible that because of their “special needs” as a result of their head injuries, that the City of Baltimore public school funding is paying the tab at Park School - which happens to be located near where I live, about a 45-minute drive from their East Baltimore home.
It will be interesting to know where they went to school before the accident. There are not too many large trees that a black ice skid would have slammed into, in their neighborhood.
You are absolutely right! There are also other options before living off of other people’s money. The Mrs. could homeschool the kids, or she could get a job that includes health insurance as a benefit.
This really ticks me off! People make these lifestyle choices and then whine and complain when they can’t afford them. I remember reading about some guy moaning about the increase in the price of gasoline, because he has a 60 mile commute from his home in the country. Well, maybe you’ll just have to move closer to town, Squire.
auto insurance follows the vehicle — not the driver in the main.
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