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Senior Citizen Politics
Senate Approves SCHIP with Veto-Proof Majority to
Join House Bill Passed Wednesday
House bill includes some important changes to
Medicare
Aug. 3, 2007 The Senate approved the bill
expanding SCHIP by billions over five years by a veto-proof margin but
the White House is still promising a veto. The House version of the
bill, called the CHAMP Act, also includes a number of changes to
Medicare, including decreased funding for Medicare Advantage Plans and
pay increases for physicians. Both houses intend to fund the expansion
with increased taxes on cigarettes, according to the KaiserNetwork.org
report.
The Senate on Thursday voted 68-31 to approve
legislation (S
1893) that would reauthorize SCHIP and expand funding for the
program by $35 billion over five years, the
Wall Street Journal
reports (Lueck,
Wall Street Journal,
8/3). Two independents, 18 Republicans and all 48 Democrats voted to
pass the measure, with the 31 opposition votes coming from Republicans
(Pear,
New York Times, 8/3). The Senate would need 67 votes
to override a potential presidential veto (Alonso-Zaldivar,
Los Angeles Times, 8/3).
SCHIP expires on Sept. 30. The
Senate Finance Committee in
July finalized an agreement on SCHIP reauthorization that would increase
five-year funding for the program from $25 billion to $60 billion by
raising the federal cigarette tax from 39 cents to $1 per pack. Under
the plan, the 6.6 million children currently enrolled in SCHIP would
continue to receive benefits, and an additional 3.3 million children
could be enrolled in the program (Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, 7/31).
A White House spokesperson said President Bush's
previous veto threat would stand, despite the large margin of support in
the Senate, according to the
Journal
(Wall Street
Journal, 8/3). The White House said the bill "goes too far
in federalizing health care" (New York Times, 8/3).
The House on Wednesday voted 225-204 to approve its
reauthorization legislation (HR
3162), which would increase SCHIP funding by $50 billion over
five years and make changes to Medicare (Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, 8/2).
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
said that Congress was jeopardizing health care for children by passing
bills that "the president will have no choice but to veto" (New
York Times, 8/3). However, if conference committee members
can reach a bipartisan agreement, the White House might "have to back
down on its veto threat," according to some senior Republicans, the
Los Angeles
Times reports.
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck
Grassley (R-Iowa) said, "I hope to be able to talk to the president and
just show how common sense dictates not vetoing this" (Los
Angeles Times, 8/3).
Conference Committee
The bill now goes to conference committee, and
negotiators will have "a formidable challenge in trying to work out
differences" between the two bills, according to the
New York Times.
Democratic leaders' "strong commitment to the issue ... virtually
guarantees" that the committee will reach a compromise before Sept. 30,
when the program is set to expire, the New York Times reports. However,
it is unlikely that a compromise bill would be acceptable to Bush (New
York Times, 8/3).
The House version of the bill includes a larger
expansion of the program, along with revisions to Medicare that include
cuts to private Medicare Advantage plans and a reversal of a scheduled
cut to physicians' Medicare reimbursements. The House and Senate
versions also differ in the size of the tobacco tax increase, with the
Senate supporting a 61-cent increase and the House supporting a 45-cent
increase.
House and Senate lawmakers acknowledge that the
Medicare provisions in the House bill, "intended to piggyback their way
into law on the popularity" of SCHIP, will "complicate negotiations,"
according to
CQ Today (Wayne,
CQ Today,
8/2). The
Journal reports that the House-proposed level of cuts to
MA plans "is unlikely to survive the Senate" (Wall
Street Journal, 8/3).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said
that it would be difficult for the Senate to approve a bill expanding
SCHIP above $35 billion. Noting that the Senate legislation was drafted
with bipartisan support, Reid said, "It is the compromise, and I think
that is our figure," adding, "We're encouraged to move to conference
with the House, and we're happy to work with them to try to get
something we can sell over here" (Johnson,
CongressDaily,
8/3).
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
said, "What's going to happen in conference? I have no idea." He added
that the bills "are really two different animals, and when that happens,
generally some other solution presents itself. ... There are all kinds
of ways to do things around here" (Lengell,
Washington Times, 8/3).
Additional Comments
Baucus said, "For the life of me, I can't
understand why the president would want to veto this legislation. It's
moderate, it's bipartisan, it helps low-income kids. ... It's just the
right thing to do for the country" (Hirschfeld Davis,
AP/Contra Costa Times, 8/3). He added, "This is not a
huge expansion of the program. This has nothing to do with national
health insurance" (Neikirk,
Chicago Tribune, 8/3).
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said, "As lawmakers,
we have a moral obligation to provide health care coverage for the
millions of uninsured children. Health care should be a right, not a
privilege, and covering every child is an important step toward this
goal."
However, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
said, "If you want to go to government-run, socialistic medicine, this
is it, this is the way it's going to happen" (New
York Times, 8/3).
Opinion Piece, Editorial
● Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Robert Greenstein,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The House SCHIP bill
"improves health coverage for millions of America's children and
seniors, and does so in a fiscally responsible way," Lewis and
Greenstein, executive director of the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
write in a
Journal-Constitution opinion piece. Lewis and Greenstein
conclude, "Maybe that's why its opponents have had to resort to
distortions to attack it: The facts themselves clearly show that the
bill is good for this country" (Lewis/Greenstein,
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, 8/3).
●
Washington Post: "The administration appears to be
attempting to solve the problem of uninsured children by defining the
numbers downward" when it focuses on studies that measure the number of
children who are uninsured for a full year, rather than those measuring
the number uninsured at any given point in time, according to a
Post
editorial. The editorial continues that "given a choice between
dramatically underestimating the needs of low-income children and
somewhat overstating them, we'd go with the latter" (Washington
Post, 8/3).
Broadcast Coverage
● NPR's "Morning
Edition" on Friday reported on the Senate and House bills.
The segment includes comments from Leavitt, Baucus and a parent who
testified at the Senate hearing (Rovner, "Morning Edition," NPR, 8/3).
Audio of the segment is available
online.
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