| ■ U.S. House Votes to Expand Child Health Insurance Bill | 2007.10.01 |
| The U.S. House on Tuesday voted 265-159 in favor of expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $35 billion over five years, but didn't get the two-thirds majority needed to override President Bush's threatened veto of the bill, the Associated Press reported. Currently, the state-federal program covers about 6.6 million children in families that have incomes above the poverty line but have difficulty affording private health insurance. The new bill would provide coverage for an additional 4 million children. Bush says he opposes the Democratic-led bill due to its cost, reliance on a tobacco tax increase and its potential for replacing private health insurance with government grants. In Tuesday's vote, 51 Republicans supported the bill while 151 of them voted against it, the AP reported. Most governors and many health advocacy groups support the bill. It's expected that the Senate will pass the bill by a wide margin later this week. However, even if the Senate vote results in a two-thirds majority, the failure of the House to achieve such a majority means that Congress cannot override Bush's veto. |