Senate Panel Adds Billions for Child Health Coverage
Senate Panel Adds Billions for Health (NYT):
Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the Senate Finance Committee approved a major expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Thursday, with a majority of Republicans joining all Democrats on the panel in supporting the legislation.
The vote, 17 to 4, sends the measure to the full Senate, which is expected to take it up within two weeks....
The program subsidizes health care for children, and some adults, from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to be able to afford private insurance. Congress faces a deadline because the program, which covered 6.6 million low-income children at some time in the last year, is set to expire on Sept. 30.
The bill calls for a total of $60 billion in spending over the next five years, which is $35 billion more than it would cost to continue spending at current levels. In the House, Democratic leaders are developing a proposal calling for a total of $75 billion. By contrast, President Bush has proposed a $5 billion increase, for a total of $30 billion.
One co-author of the legislation, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Finance Committee’s senior Republican, said, “The White House is very unrealistic if they think they can continue to do what we are doing now with just a $5 billion increase.”
Another co-author, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, said Mr. Bush and his health secretary, Michael O. Leavitt, had been “pretty belligerent” in criticizing the bill. [Cont...]
Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the Senate Finance Committee approved a major expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Thursday, with a majority of Republicans joining all Democrats on the panel in supporting the legislation.
The vote, 17 to 4, sends the measure to the full Senate, which is expected to take it up within two weeks....
The program subsidizes health care for children, and some adults, from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to be able to afford private insurance. Congress faces a deadline because the program, which covered 6.6 million low-income children at some time in the last year, is set to expire on Sept. 30.
The bill calls for a total of $60 billion in spending over the next five years, which is $35 billion more than it would cost to continue spending at current levels. In the House, Democratic leaders are developing a proposal calling for a total of $75 billion. By contrast, President Bush has proposed a $5 billion increase, for a total of $30 billion.
One co-author of the legislation, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Finance Committee’s senior Republican, said, “The White House is very unrealistic if they think they can continue to do what we are doing now with just a $5 billion increase.”
Another co-author, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, said Mr. Bush and his health secretary, Michael O. Leavitt, had been “pretty belligerent” in criticizing the bill. [Cont...]