WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate and House agreed Friday on a $35 billion expansion of a children’s health insurance program.
President George W. Bush Thursday promised to veto the measure if it passes Congress. Votes have been scheduled for next week, The Washington Post reported.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, aims to provide coverage for families with incomes too high for Medicaid and too low to afford market-rate health insurance. Bush argues that raising income limits could lure families from private insurance to government subsidized coverage.
Both houses have passed different versions of bills to reauthorize and expand SCHIP. The compromise agreed to Friday is similar to the bill that received 68 votes in the Senate, raising total funding over the next five years to $60 billion from $25 billion, and adding about 3.4 million children to the program.
