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SCHIP is off the block: OP stops expansion of health care for kids

Date Posted: October 26 2007

WASHINGTON - Some 4 million children lost a chance to have health care coverage when the House voted on Oct. 18 and failed to overturn President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) renewal. It would have taken 13 more "yes" votes to gain a two-thirds majority to override Bush's veto. The House vote was 273-156 in favor of expanding funding.

The bill - passed by large majorities with bi-partisan in the U.S. House and Senate - would have funded the program for five years and covered the 6 million children already enrolled, plus an additional 4 million uninsured children whose families cannot afford the skyrocketing cost of private health insurance.

Basically the bill came down to money. Labor, its allies and the Democrats wanted to add $35 billion to the program. Bush wanted to add $5 billion.

The Republicans' anti-SCHIP campaign was marked by "misconceptions, half truths and down right lies," says Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.). Bush and his backers painted the vetoed bill as a step toward "socialized medicine" and "government-run" health care that would undermine the private insurance industry and even allow families making as much as $83,000 a year to enroll their children in SCHIP.

But as a fact sheet from the nonprofit, non-partisan organization Families USA said: "Claims by the president that this bill raises the SCHIP eligibility level to $83,000 (400 percent of the federal poverty level) in annual income is unambiguously false. There isn't a single state in the country with such a high eligibility level."

In a letter to the House urging an override, AFL-CIO Legislative Director Bill Samuel said more than 75 percent of the children expected to gain coverage under the bill have family incomes below twice the poverty level.

"In the richest country in the world, nearly 10 million of our children can't see a doctor when they need one. Prevention is a proven money-saver and yet 10 million kids can't even see a doctor for a check-up," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "Bush's veto comes at a time when America's health care system is clearly broken. Fewer and fewer employers are offering health coverage to their workers. And many of the workers who are offered health insurance at work can't afford to buy coverage for their families."

"No" votes, upholding Bush, came from 154 Republicans and two Democrats.

Greg Tarpinian, executive director of the Change to Win union coalition, said "in failing to approve SCHIP, Bush and his Republican allies callously placed ideology over the health and well-being of millions of children. Those members of Congress who voted to deny health coverage to poor children will face another override vote next
November, except this time working families will have the vote."

(From the AFL-CIO and Press Associates)