UPDATE: US House Votes To Expand,Enlarge SCHIP Through FY13
January 14 2009 - 4:39PM
Dow Jones News
The U.S. House of Representatives voted by a strong majority to
reauthorize and expand SCHIP, a federal program providing medical
insurance to lower income children whose families can't afford to
pay for coverage themselves.
The vote of 289-139 was largely along party lines. Forty
Republicans voted in favor of the measure, while the bulk opposed
it.
The bill would authorize the program, expanding coverage for an
additional 4 million children through fiscal year 2013 at a cost of
$32.3 billion.
It would bring the total number of children covered under the
program to around 11 million.
The Senate is expected to bring forward the bill possibly as
soon as next week, and the legislation is likely to be among the
first signed into law by President-elect Barack Obama after he is
sworn into office next week.
"This coverage is critical, it is fully paid for, and I hope
that the Senate acts with the same sense of urgency so that it can
be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am President,"
said Obama, in a statement.
The bill will largely be paid for by an increase in the federal
cigarette tax by 61 cents a pack bringing the levy to $1 a
pack.
The House version removes a five-year waiting period for
children who become legal residents to receive coverage under the
federal insurance program. The Senate version does not remove that
hurdle, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday
she expects it will be the House version Obama signs into law next
week.
Analysts expect the higher taxes on tobacco to reduce volumes at
the three major U.S. cigarette makers, Altria Group Inc. (MO),
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and Lorillard Inc. (LO).
SCHIP, State Children's Health Insurance Program, is a program
that aims to provide coverage for children whose families earn too
much to qualify for Medicaid, but still struggle to afford health
insurance.
House Republicans opposed the legislation because they said it
would shift children who are currently covered by private medical
insurance onto the federal books. They believe the bill would stray
the program from its original intent of paying for health insurance
for lower income families.
SCHIP will not take the place of what is expected to be a wider
attempt at health care reform the Obama administration and the
Democratic-controlled Congress will embark on later this year.
Expanding the program has long been a priority of Democrats.
Congress twice passed an enlargement of the children's health
program in 2007. Both times it was vetoed by President George W.
Bush.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601;
corey.boles@dowjones.com
(Patrick Yoest and Anjali Cordeiro contributed to this
article.)
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