From a reader:

I am still reeling from your comment to the effect that a family of four earning $50,000 a year ought to be able to afford health insurance.

Maybe we should also make these people eligible for food stamps, housing subsidies, and free cigarettes. Why should anyone have to pay for anything anymore?

Come on, people! We’re talking about whether the government should pay for your two kids’ health insurance plans when you make more than $51,000 a year (more than the new national median income). I know that health insurance is not cheap, but neither are your mortgage and car insurance. You’re not going to ask the government to pay for those too, are you?

(I can already hear the answers coming in, so I’ll get it out of the way now: those who cannot buy insurance for health reasons represent a separate problem that has a separate solution, not SCHIP.)