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Health care showdown this week for Bush, Congress

By Tony Pugh | M • Published July 30, 2007

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Over its first 10 years, the SCHIP program and Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor, have helped to reduce the percentage of low-­income children who lack health insurance by about a third.

But some 9 million youngsters are still without health coverage, and Democrats say that expanding the SCHIP program would address the problem because research indicates that most uninsured children are eligible for, but not enrolled in, Medicaid or SCHIP.

Both the House and Senate are expected to vote on the proposals before Congress adjourns this week for its summer recess. The program will expire if it isn't reauthorized by Sept. 30, leaving states with no federal funds to help cover the program's 6 ­million-plus children.

"If we fail to pass this bill, 6 million children will lose their health care coverage as of October," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who helped draft the House bill.

The House proposal, dubbed the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act, would increase SCHIP funding by $50 billion over five years, to a total of $75 billion. Five million more uninsured children would receive coverage under the proposal, which would also spend $15 billion on Medicare-related services.

The Senate proposal would increase the program's funding by $35 billion over five years and raise total spending to $60 billion. More than 3 million additional uninsured children would receive coverage under the bipartisan proposal.

Both the House and Senate bills would be funded by increased taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products and payment cuts to insurers in the Medicare Advantage program.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who supports the Senate proposal, said he believes that the White House probably would be amenable to another $4 billion to $9 billion in total funding. But he said such small increases are "a far cry from reality."

"You can't just ignore that there are millions of kids that might not be covered, and frankly, it's penny-wise and pound-foolish not to help kids" get adequate health care, Hatch said.