The Full Spectrum Blog

The Senate on Thursday voted 66-32 to pass a bill (S 275) that will reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and expand it to add four million more children. The House, which passed their version of the bill (HR 2) earlier this month, is expected to approve the Senate bill next week and send it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The Democratic majority in the Senate denied Republican-backed amendments to limit the expansion of the program. Some of the amendments denied included a more stringent income limit for participating families as well as a ban to use federal funds to cover children of newly arrived legal immigrants. Current law requires a waiting period of five years before legal immigrants can be eligible for coverage under SCHIP.

"It is likely many of these children are already U.S. citizens and many will become U.S. citizens, and their being unhealthy doesn't make sense for that family, and it certainly does not make sense for our nation," Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said, "Some of us who look at this bill may view it as another effort to eliminate, over time, private insurance in America, and I am concerned about that." Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) asked, "Is the real intent of this legislation to replace the private health care system with a government-run health care system?"

According to the Wall Street Journal, Obama indicated that he views the reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP as the start of his health care overhaul. "Providing health care to more than ten million children through the Children's Health Insurance Program will serve as a down payment on my commitment to ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable health care."

Obama in a statement said, "As the worsening economy causes families to lose their jobs and health insurance, it is vital that we redouble our efforts to ensure that every child in America has access to affordable health care," adding, "That is why I am pleased that the Senate has joined the House in passing bipartisan legislation to provide health insurance to children whose families have been hurt most by this downturn."

For more details about the bill and how it will be funded, check out our previous post.

- Chris Rottler, Digital Strategist & Account Executive

The Senate plans to begin work on a bill (S 275) that will reauthorize and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) announced Monday. Under the bill, children in families with incomes of up to three times the federal poverty level would qualify for the program.

The House last week easily passed their version of the bill (HR 2). Under the House version, the program will cost an additional $32.3 billion above its current cost of $25 billion, and will be extended by four and a half years beyond its current expiration on March 31. The Senate bill will allocate an additional $31.5 billion over the same period of time.The legislation would be financed by a 61-cent increase in the tax on cigarettes, which would increase it to $1 pack.

One major difference between the two versions is that the House measure includes a provision that allow states to waive the five-year waiting period for documented immigrants whom seek benefits for their children as well as pregnant immigrant women. The Senate version does not include such a provision. Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in the Washington Times said that while he supports the provision, he did not include it into the bill because it was not part of the bipartisan legislation that was negotiated in 2007.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the increase in spending would allow four million low-income and uninsured children to receive coverage through Medicaid and SCHIP through 2013. An addition 2.3 million will join the program after previously getting private insurance.

According to National Journal's Health Care blog, conservatives complained that the legislation fails to require coverage of the poorest children. There also were questions raised about whether immediately covering legal immigrants who are not yet U.S. citizens would eventually lead to coverage of illegal aliens. However, the Associated Press reported that with more Democrats in Congress and President Barack Obama in the White House, Republican lawmakers do not have sufficient numbers or a veto threat to block the reauthorization.

House Speaker Pelosi last week commented on SCHIP's passage in the House:

- Chris Rottler, Digital Strategist & Account Executive