Bush Signs Extension of Child Health-Care Program Into Law
President Bush on Saturday signed legislation that would extend a controversial children’s health insurance program, after twice denying attempts to expand its reach.
The extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) should provide states with funds to cover those enrolled through March 2009, the Associated Press reported. Bush and Republican legislators contend the program will cover families that currently fall into a coverage gap — earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance.
But Democrats, with the support of some Republican legislators, were pushing hard for an expansion of the program to cover an estimated four million more children, the AP said. Their proposal, which would have added $35 billion to SCHIP coffers, was to have been paid for by an increase in the tobacco tax.
But Bush claimed that the Democrats’ plan ignored the nation’s neediest children. He also objected to the tax increase and what he described as a move toward more government-funded health care.
The current program covers about 6 million children, but Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday said her party won’t stop “until 10 million children receive the health-care coverage they deserve.”
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