Earlier this year, the Bush administration sought to prevent the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The president twice vetoed versions of the bill that would have expanded the program amid concerns that parents who could afford private insurance would seek coverage under SCHIP, depriving low-income children of coverage.
The Government Accountability Office studied the issue and concluded the administration violated federal law when it prevented states from expanding SCHIP, because it did not follow the rule-making process.
Democrats and Republicans battled over whether to expand SCHIP for the usual policy reasons. Consequently, Democrats have decided not to fight the veto-threat battle again this year. Unable to override a presidential veto, they will postpone efforts to renew and expand SCHIP. (Kaiser Network)
Another reason the Democrats want to postone the bill is that although it would reduce the number of uninsured children by 4.4 million by 2013, it could decrease by 2.3 million the number of children covered by private carriers (according to the Congressional Budget Office), a problem that concerned the bill’s opponents.
