Notes on S-CHIP

A few notes on the Children's Health Insurance Bill. The bill, which passed 67-29 yesterday, will renew but also expand an extant program. Under the program, the federal gov't disburses funds to the states for the purposes of providing medical coverage to children whose parents don't qualify for Medicaid. When the feds hand off the funds, they lose most say-so over how the money is used. Historically, the so-called S-CHIP program filled a gap for those children whose families were "just rich enough" to be disqualified from Medicaid coverage. However, the States have been increasingly willing to distribute funds to families at 200%, 300% of the poverty level. Question has arisen as to whether the federal or state government should be providing coverage to families at this income level. One of the Bush administration's main arguments against the S-CHIP expansion is that children whose parents could get private coverage will instead be gov't-insured. For instance, New York has floated the idea of providing some coverage to families at 400% of the poverty level. This concept is unacceptable to W, bringing about his veto threat. Under this extension of the bill, the program grows by $35 billion over five years. It also seems possible that some adults could get state aid through the plan, a possibility that conservatives fervently oppose because it seems to be a first step toward a socialized health care system. Regardless, the Senate has enough votes for S-CHIP to override W's veto. Sixty-seven senators voted for the bill on Thursday, a number which doesn't include the prospective yeas of Biden and Obama, who'd left town to attend a Presidential debate. Yet, it's unclear whether 2/3 of the House would vote for the plan, as is required to override the Bush veto. S-CHIP passed in the House earlier this week but it was about 22 votes short of 2/3 of the body. Pelosi will have some work to do.