Democrats Pass Hike in Child Health Plan

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

(08-01) 17:14 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Democrats pushed through legislation Wednesday to add 6 million lower-income children to a popular health insurance program while making deep cuts in federal payments to Medicare HMOs, defying a veto threat from President Bush.

The House voted 225-204, mostly along partisan lines, to pass the legislation, which would add $50 billion to the decade-old State Children's Health Insurance Program and roll back years of Republican-driven changes to Medicare.

It would slash federal payments to private insurance companies that cover seniors under Medicare and shift money to doctors and benefits for low-income seniors.

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The decade-old SCHIP program is designed to subsidize the cost of insurance for children whose families earn too much to participate in Medicaid, but not enough to afford private health insurance. Through federal waivers, however, the program has expanded in many states to include middle-income children and adults, prompting Republicans to argue that it has morphed into a backdoor way to extend government-provided health care to an ever-increasing population of Americans.

Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/01/national/w163909D82.DTL

[superconnected]

1. Good!

Nice to see they're trying to correct the damage.

[Faygo Kid]

2. This is important, folks. Bush will veto childrens' health care. Philosophical differences defined

This bill is important; what working families without health care for their kids can afford it today, let alone those who are poor? GOP says it will cut Medicare. Bull. It cuts payments to Medicare Advantage, privatized Medicare, which can't compete and therefore needs subsidies. This bill is powerful and good, and good for the Dems. If anyone here still likes "bipartisanship," check the vote totals. The GOP reps continue to do as they are told by the Bush Administration. Period.

[Faygo Kid]

3. Keep this one kicked. Almost all Dems on one side, all GOP on the other. This is why DU exists.

We have to stop these guys, who think families making $40,000 a year with four kids and no health insurance are rich, while oil companies and their executives deserve millions in subsidies. It's insane, but this is one of the key battles of our generation, and tonight's vote set the stage. A little more comment, please.

[NaturalHigh]

4. "It would be financed through a 61-cent-a-pack tax increase on cigarettes."

Time to start stockpiling now, I guess. Maybe this will be an incentive for me to stop smoking. I wonder how they'll pay for it if millions of smokers quit.