Last Wednesday, Democrats in the House of Representatives failed to override President George W. Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion bill. Democrats were 15 votes short of the required 2/3 majority needed to override a presidential veto. (Kaiser Network)
Last year, Bush twice vetoed a bill that would have expanded SCHIP by $35 million over five years. Mike Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the administration would have been willing to sign a bill to increase SCHIP’s funding by only $20 billion over five years. The administration and some Republicans were concerned that the expansion would lead to coverage of children whose families could afford private insurance at the expense of children whose families could not.
In this contentious election cycle, the Democrats likely will use Republican’s “NO” votes as political leverage.
Republican congressman Joe Barton of Texas (pictured) told the Washington Post and CQ Today: “There is no child currently on SCHIP that is going to lose coverage, regardless of the vote…Continue the existing program, perhaps expand coverage somewhat for families above 200% of poverty and cover every child in the country under 200% of poverty.”
Read more SCHIP-related posts.
