"Health & Medical News"

Washington — In the closing days of the 2007 session, Congress prevented a Medicare payment cut and kept the State Children’s Health Insurance Program alive, but both moves are only temporary.

By unanimous consent on Dec. 18, 2007, the Senate passed the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007. The House passed the same legislation 411-3 the next day, and a White House official indicated President Bush would sign the measure.

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Saying the legislation “moves our country’s health care system in the wrong direction,” President Bush vetoed an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for a second time, CNN reported Dec. 12.

“Because the Congress has chosen to send me an essentially identical bill that has the same problems as the flawed bill I previously vetoed, I must veto this legislation, too,” Bush said, claiming the $35-billion expansion of the program would encourage families to trade in their private health insurance for the publicly funded SCHIP.

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The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a revised version of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill, but the measure once again fell short of the votes needed to override an expected presidential veto.

CNN reported Oct. 25 that the SCHIP bill passed 265-142, still short of the 290 votes needed for a veto override. The measure included some concessions to Republican concerns about the bill, including tighter income-based caps on eligibility. But it still retained the original bill’s $35-billion price tag and a funding mechanism based on a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tobacco tax.

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The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote today on a revised children’s health bill that addresses some of President Bush’s concerns about eligibility, the Associated Press reported Oct. 25.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill, previously vetoed by Bush, still calls for a $35-billion expansion funded by a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tobacco tax. It also calls for parity coverage of addiction and mental health problems. But the revised measure would now exclude families earning more than three times the federal poverty level, and phase out eligibility for low-income childless adults.

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As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to override President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP), Reuters reported Oct. 18.

Bush vetoed the bill, which would have been funded by increases in federal tobacco taxes and required parity coverage for addiction and mental illness, after complaining that it was a step toward socialized medicine. This week’s 273-156 vote in the House fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for a veto override.

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A new survey finds that 70 percent of Americans support a bill in Congress that would add $35 million in new funding to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but some observers say that public support is not strong enough to change the minds of lawmakers who back President Bush’s veto of the measure.

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Washington — Four states joined in a lawsuit and a fifth filed its own to block new rules limiting eligibility for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The group lawsuit, filed Oct. 4 in a federal court in New York, says the Dept. of Health and Human Services should have provided the public notice and comment period required by law for program changes as significant as those in its Aug. 17 guidance.

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By Bob Curley

Editor’s Update, Oct. 3, 2007:?  Bush Vetoes SCHIP Bill

The children’s health-insurance bill passed by the House and Senate this week not only raises federal tobacco taxes to pay for expanded health care but also requires state programs to treat addiction and mental-health disorders on par with physical illnesses.

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Washington — Hopes that a two-year Medicare physician payment increase would head to the White House on the back of a popular children’s health insurance measure were dashed late last month. Lawmakers decided to remove the Medicare language from the bill.

The House and the Senate in early August passed legislation that would reauthorize and expand the expiring State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Unlike the Senate bill, the House version also included provisions that would raise Medicare physician payments by 0.5% in both 2008 and 2009 to prevent annual cuts required by law.

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President Bush employed a rare use of his veto pen to reject a bill that would have greatly expanded health-insurance coverage for poor U.S. children, Fox News reported Oct. 3.

Bush vetoed the $35-billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), claiming the bill represented a step toward government-run health care. The bill has enough support in the U.S. Senate to support an override of the veto, but not in the House, where Minority Whip Roy Blunt said he was “absolutely confident” that he has the votes to defeat an override attempt.

Popularity: unranked [?]