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As part of a policy directive announced in August 2007, the Bush administration has been reported as negotiating limits of states' abilities to expand SCHIP, minimizing the number of people eligible for Medicaid in the next year. And as more people will find themselves without medical coverage, this move will also highlight our need for more affordable health insurance.

According to the report at Kaiser Daily Health, states must demonstrate that they have "enrolled at least 95% of children in the state below 200% of the federal poverty level" who are eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP. The fear is that too many families would stop paying for medical coverage if they could instead qualify for government subsidized insurance.

But with coverage costing some families almost 1/3 of their yearly income, the lack of affordable health insurance is creating a dangerous financial burden for families who struggle to pay the bills each month. Already there are millions of men, women and children who are under-insured.

This is why affordable health insurance needs to be a top priority. Those who are under-insured are still at risk for medical debt brought on by a health crisis. When everyone can afford good coverage, issues like the one facing Medicaid won't have the same potential to bankrupt state and federal funding.

In the mean time, those who do need a good health insurance plan that doesn't eat up their income should aim for a plan that covers yearly checkups, since studies prove that those checkups are the best way to prevent dangerous and preventable diseases.