Washington – The House on Wednesday approved legislation vastly expanding a federal health-insurance program for the children of the working poor, shrugging off a fresh veto threat from President Bush and the fierce opposition of House Republicans.
The Senate, where the legislation has strong bipartisan support, is expected to follow suit as early as today, voting on a more modest version of the program and likely setting up a showdown between congressional supporters and a White House that insists the measures are far too expansive.
Wednesday’s vote would launch the most significant growth in federal health care in a decade.
“This is the children’s hour,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declared Wednesday night. “We are able to meet our moral obligation to our children.”
The 225-204 vote in the House – largely along party lines – came after hours of delay tactics, strident rhetoric and trench warfare from Republicans who called the bill the first step toward “socialized medicine” financed by an unfair tobacco-tax hike and cuts to managed care companies in Medicare.
Dems had wide support
But in the end, the Democrats had weapons that were just too powerful – a promise to insure 5 million more children who otherwise would have no access to health care, adding to the 6 million children already covered – and the backing of Republican and Democratic governors, the American Medical Association, AARP, the March of Dimes, the Catholic Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and even Lance Armstrong.
The prospects for passage are even better in the Senate, where a key Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, said: “It’s difficult for me to understand how anyone wouldn’t want to do this.”
But Bush opposes such a major expansion of the program. In an interview with The Washington Post last month, he explained, “when you expand eligibility … you’re really beginning to open up an avenue for people to switch from private insurance to the government.”
The House bill would expand the State-Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as S-CHIP, by $47 billion over five years to provide coverage to the additional 5 million children.
Those children would have access to dental and mental-health care.
Among Colorado’s representatives, the Democrats all voted in favor of the measure, while the Republicans were opposed.
Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, said the action ensures health-care coverage for almost 100,000 children in Colorado, which “is more cost-effective, as preventative care is far less expensive than emergency care.”
“It is unconscionable that working parents in this country often cannot afford to provide health care for their children,” said Rep. Mark Udall, a Democrat from Eldorado Springs.
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Golden Democrat, agreed.
“I am proud to back a plan to give 11 million children the care they deserve and move us closer to providing every child in our nation with high-quality health care,” he said
$3 billion for rural care
The bill also would offer new options for states to extend Medicaid and S-CHIP coverage up to the age of 20 and to cover some legal immigrants and pregnant women. It expands coverage for preventive health screenings for seniors under Medicare and provides $19 billion over five years to prevent scheduled cuts to physician reimbursements under Medicare from taking effect. Nearly $3 billion is included for rural health care.
John Salazar, D-Colo., expressed hope that the measure could become law.
“I would be very disappointed if the president vetoes this legislation that provides health care for low-income children and strengthens Medicare for seniors,” he said.
To pay for the measure, the bill would raise the federal tobacco tax by 45 cents a pack.
