Senate Panel Reaches First Agreement on SCHIP

Debate on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) continued this week as members of the Senate Finance Committee announced an agreement on Tuesday, July 10, for expansion of the program. House and Senate leaders have carried on negotiations for most of this session regarding the program, but have consistently failed to reach a consensus. While the Finance Committee announcement marks the first significant agreement on SCHIP expansion, it falls significantly short of the $50 billion increase Democrats agreed to in the fiscal year 2008 joint budget resolution.

SCHIP is a state-federal insurance program covering about 6 million children and about 600,000 adults. It is intended to cover children of low-income families not poor enough to qualify for the larger Medicaid program. Under the bipartisan agreement, the expansion would cost $35 billion over five years, funded with a $.61 increase to the $.39 federal cigarette tax, to an even $1 per pack. Although committee leaders reached an agreement, the proposal may be too small an expansion to suit some Democrats and too expensive for many Republicans. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) has scheduled a markup on the legislation for Tuesday, July 17.

President Bush proposed a far smaller increase for SCHIP combined with tax deductions or credits for middle-income families to help them buy health insurance. If the White House feels the increase is too extreme, any bill that comes out of the Finance Committee may find itself on a long list of bills with veto threats levied against it. The President already stated his intention to resist the proposal, though he has not publically threatened a veto at this point. Sen. Gordon H. Smith (R-OR), an architect of the agreement, is attempting to defend the proposal against criticism from the White House.

Resources:
Alex Wayne, “Senators’ Deal on SCHIP Could Be Tough Sell,” CQ Today, July 10, 2007.
Alex Wayne, “Senate Republicans Challenge Bush on SCHIP,” CQ Today, July 12, 2007.
Author: SAS