Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
The Kaiser Network reports that the measure passed by a vote of 289 to 139. Children from families with incomes of up to three times the federal poverty level would qualify for SCHIP, a move that likely would cover three million more children.
Under the bill, SCHIP would be extended for four-and-a-half years and cost $57.3 million, a figure that includes current costs of the program. The bill would also allow states to waive the five-year waiting period for immigrant children or pregnant and trying to receive government benefits. The waiver would add 400,000 to 600,000 more children to SCHIP if every state implemented it.
Last November, the state of California considered temporarily stopping SCHIP enrollment to avoid a $17.2 million deficit caused by a glut of “new clients.” The state faces an $11.2 billion deficit. Throughout 2008, Democrats and Republicans in Congress debated and passed bills that would have expanded SCHIP. President George Bush vetoed at least two versions of the bills, citing concerns that better-off families who could afford private insurance would enroll in the program, depriving low-income children of coverage.
