President Bush last Thursday urged Congress to send him a bill providing for a short-term extension of the current State Children's Health Insurance Plan as it became more evident that House and Senate negotiators would be unable to reach agreement on legislation reauthorizing and expanding the program.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had earlier told Democratic members of her caucus to expect a Sept. 25 vote on legislation expected to mirror the Senate version of the bill.
However, the inability of House negotiators to agree to the smaller Senate package and their insistence on provisions to improve the Medicare program and cut back on the Medicare Advantage program offered by private insurers have caused the talks to reach an impasse, according to congressional staffers.
"Members of Congress are putting poor children at risk so they can score political points in Washington," Bush said as he opened a news conference.
"More than a million children could lose health coverage" if the program is allowed to expire, the president said.
The program expires at the end of the current fiscal year, and Bush has proposed adding an additional $1 billion a year for 5 years to the current program, which has spent $25 billion over 5 years.
The Senate bill increases the SCHIP program by $35 billion over 5 years. The far more expansive House bill would have increased funding by $50 billion over 5 years, and made major changes in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The cuts in the Medicare Advantage program under the House bill would be used to partly fund the larger increase in the SCHIP program. The House bill also calls for an increase of the federal cigarette tax by 45 cents per pack. The Senate bill increases the tobacco tax by 61 cents, but does not touch the Medicare Advantage program.
The language House negotiators are insisting on includes a provision cutting funding to the Medicare Advantage program over 4 years, to the level paid for Medicare fee-for-service, and imposing greater oversight over marketing and operations of Medicare Advantage plans.
Meanwhile, New Jersey newspapers reported that New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said on Sept. 19 that the state would seek legal action against the Bush administration in a challenge to new rules designed to limit SCHIP enrollment to the lowest-income people.
