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.
Exactly! Is there anyone who hasn’t met a small businessman who hasn’t found a way to hide significant income from the IRS?
“Kerry on, my wayward son...”
Not for special needs kids. If a local government school cannot provide what’s needed the feds “allow” a school district to “school choice” the kid or kids to a private school that can provide the service, using tax money.
If you know the ropes and get a good IEP or Section 504 plan written up, you can get your kid into an exclusive school and have the govt (that's you) pay.
Google up iep, 504, school choice, sped, and combos of these and you’ll see how it works.
SPED can be anything from severe retardation, significant physical needs, or other serious disability down to dyslexia, ADDHD, or Aspergers (I’m not saying that these conditions are not serious, though I do think thay are over-diagnosed- and if the payoff is getting into an expensive exclusive school, there’s incentive to overdiagnose).
Were they in a parent's car, or a friend's? Were they hit by a drunk? Was it a one-car accident?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5D6103AF930A35754C0A96E948260
Looks like granddad, Frederick G. Frost Jr., is VERY well off. He is a retired architect who headed Frost Associates, successor to the New York architectural firm founded in 1917 by his father, the late Frederick G. Frost.
Frederick has passed on. He’d be the 12 yo’s great-granddad.
Yes, from all appearances he did OK in life.
Then were is Jesse & Al protesting the racism and bigotry of this private learning institution?
Aha. Smart thinking there.
Another possibility is that one of the parents, or grandparents, is an alumnus or alumna of the Park School. That sometimes leads to preferential treatment. But I think your suggestion is more plausible.
In any case, this may all me moot, legally, since apparently Maryland requires no "asset test" for its SCHIP applicants. (And I'm not sure scholarships are considered assets.)
But taxpayers who can't send their kids to fashionable private schools are entitled to question why they should subsidize families who can.
They only abused the child if they made him lie, and to prove he lied (or was given lies to repeat) you have to dig into the family’s finances in detail, which I think will be a losing strategy. It looks mean, and just gives the enemy more fuel to twist things.
Much simpler and direct to point out that what saved his life and the life of his sister was the original unexpanded SCHIP, which Bush did not change. The system worked!
“Then were is Jesse & Al protesting the racism and bigotry of this private learning institution?”
I don’t know. What does that have to do with anything? The kids get into the school on merit but get scholarship money based on need.
The same could be said for the family - the fact that they are seeking out whatever public aid is available when they don't really need it is "despicable, but certainly not surprising."
But if we attack the family and win, we've saved a few bucks for the treasury. If we attack the Dumbocrats behind it and win....
Well, the kid’s great-granddad, but Halsey’s granddad.
Those are all legitimate questions. Some folks here initially wondered why the taxpwyers were picking up the tab for injuries to these kids that should have been covered by an auto insurance policy.
Really? Can you show evidence for that?
I know several lower-middle-class Asian and white kids who won admittance to Ivy League schools -- but who couldn't afford to attend.
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.
Of course, this pretty much explains why Maryland has been an economic basket-case for years.
“Some folks here initially wondered why the taxpwyers were picking up the tab for injuries to these kids that should have been covered by an auto insurance policy.”
Because the personal injury protection that provides that coverage is usually minimal.
In Maryland, the minimum PIP on a policy is $2,500.
sitetest
“Of course, this pretty much explains why Maryland has been an economic basket-case for years.”
In what way is Maryland an economic basket case?
sitetest
To be perfectly blunt, it is extremely rare for white children - especially ones with blueblood pedigrees - to receive need-based scholarships.
The Park School serves Baltimore, a city that is 65% black and more than 70% minority - it is not that the school has a shortage of traditional need-based applicants.
Also from that, "Mrs. Frost, 26 years old, is a receptionist at the Cat Hospital at Towson, in Baltimore. She graduated from Towson State University"
A receptionist, with a college degree? What does the mom do now? If hubby is going to be self employed, what do you want to bet Mommy could get a job that provided insurance benefits?
So many holes in this story.
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