As President Obama takes over the helm of the country all eyes are on him to see which of the earlier policies he will retain and which will be changed with a specific focus on health insurance provisions for children from low and middle income families.

Aides and advisers to President Obama have indicated that he would rescind a Bush administration policy issued in August 2007 that has withheld states from providing health insurance to children from such families. On similar lines is a proposal for $3 billion in budget cuts spread over the next 18 months which would eliminate state-run health care for more than 64,000 Arizona children.

This budget proposal was presented to the Legislature Jan. 15 by John Kavanagh and Russell Pearce, chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees respectively, and it aims at saving $18.3 million this year and $35.6 million next year by removing state funding for KidsCare.

KidsCare is also known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was implemented in 1998 as a result of the federal government agreeing to provide grants to states that were ready to offer health care coverage over and above what Medicaid provided to children.

The proposal to remove the program followed on the heels of Governor Janet Napolitano calling for increased access to the program. Dana Wolfe Naimark, president and CEO of the Children's Action Alliance said, "If we are pushing families away, we are just doubling and tripling the bad effects of the poor economic times."

Another ruling that came into effect on 20 Jan is the "provider conscience regulation" which grants unlimited protection to health workers who refuse to help perform abortions, dispense contraceptives or provide other care because of their "religious beliefs or moral convictions."

To revise policies such as these which have already taken effect may be time consuming and a 1983 Supreme Court decision suggests that the new administration would need to go through a formal rule-making process, with an opportunity for public comment, if it wanted to revoke this rule. The Obama administration could however try to postpone the effective date of the rule, pending judicial review as a stalling method.

President Obama is also expected to revoke a policy dubbed the global gag rule also limit access to contraceptives and family planning services. This ruling was initially imposed by President Ronald Reagan, removed by President Bill Clinton two days after he took office and then reinstated by President Bush.

Many experts have expressed their concerns that the Bush administration policy had "prevented a lot of kids from receiving the health care they needed," and blocked or delayed coverage in several states, including Louisiana, New York, Ohio and Oklahoma.

"I do not believe it is good public policy for a family with an income of $83,000 to be able to get on SCHIP when the median household income in America is about $50,000," said Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa.