President Bush positioned himself Thursday for a showdown with Congress, threatening to veto a children’s health insurance bill that has significant Republican support in both the House and Senate.
Both chambers are expected next week to increase the appropriation for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program from $25 billion to $60 billion. The program is aimed at children who do not qualify for Medicare.
The money would pay for insuring 3.3 million children beyond the 6.6 million already enrolled and also preserve coverage for 660,000 who would have lost it under current funding levels. The bill also would provide funds for states to seek out eligible childrenwho are not now covered and pay bonuses to states that increase the number of their SCHIP enrollees.
The expansion of the program would occur over five years and would be funded in part by a 61-cent increase in the cigarette tax.
Bush said the plan backed by Congress is far too expensive. He said it would cover children well above the poverty level and prompt many to give up private insurance and enter the federal program.
Bush has called for an increase of $5 billion over five years.
“Democratic leaders in Congress want to put more power in the hands of government by expanding federal health care programs,” Bush said during a news conference. “Their SCHIP plan is an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the bill would not expand eligibility, but simply provide more money for those who qualify but are not using the program. She called Bush’s veto threat “a poor choice.”
Bush will likely prevail in blocking the legislation in the House, where supporters lack the two-thirds vote needed to override a veto.
But Bush faces the prospect of a political embarrassment in the Senate, where there is enough support to block a veto.
“I believe such a veto would be a terrible mistake,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “If he does proceed to veto it, I will vote to override his veto. Surely this bill has a track record of making a real difference in low income working families.”
Funding for SCHIP expires Sept. 30. Assuming Bush follows through on his veto threat, Congress will have to pass a short-term measure until supporters can craft legislation more palatable to the President or to House Republicans.
House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, associated the bill with the failed attempt by then-first lady Hillary Clinton to reform health care during her husband’s first administration.
“This is ‘Hillarycare’ cloaked in expanded children’s health care,” Boehner said. “That’s not what most members want.”
