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Senate Backs SCHIP Change

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The Washington Post

Published: January 30, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday to provide health insurance to 11 million low-income children, a bill that would for the first time open the program to legal immigrant children and pregnant women.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program, which is aimed at families earning too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance, currently covers close to 7 million youngsters at a cost of $25 billion.

Lawmakers voted 63 to 32, largely along party lines, to renew the joint state-federal program and spend an additional $32 billion to expand coverage to 4 million more children. The expansion would be paid for by raising the cigarette tax by 61 cents a pack, to $1.

The House approved similar legislation on Jan. 14, and President Obama is expected to sign a final version as early as next week.

Democratic lawmakers, noting that President George W. Bush twice vetoed similar legislation, praised the vote as evidence of the changing Washington landscape.

"Low-income, uninsured kids all across America have been waiting for Congress to fulfill the promise of the Children's Health Insurance Program for them," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.

The program "works to get low-income, uninsured kids the doctor's visits and medicines they need to stay healthy," he said.

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