$35 Billion Boost In Works for Kids' Health Care

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/17/AR2007091701716.html

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 18, 2007; Page A04

Key lawmakers in the House and Senate negotiated into the night yesterday on a deal that would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over the next five years.

That would set up a clash with President Bush, who has promised to veto such a plan.

The emerging compromise would bring total enrollment to 10 million children. Congressional aides said it would be funded by an increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, which is now at 39 cents a pack. It would also attempt to blunt rules the Bush administration imposed last month that restrict the eligibility of middle-income children.

The package borrows heavily from a Senate version that was passed with bipartisan support by a 68 to 31 vote, the aides said. It would not include measures in the House version that would cut payments to private Medicare plans, nor would it deal with a scheduled 10 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors.

The proposed $35 billion would bring total funding for the program to $60 billion over five years, the same as the Senate version. The House version, which passed by a 225 to 204 vote, largely along party lines, called for $50 billion in new SCHIP funding, for a total of $75 billion. President Bush has proposed an increase of just $5 billion, for a total of $30 billion.

The details may change and some issues are unresolved, according to several people familiar with the discussions. Lawmakers hope to vote on the compromise before Sept. 30, when the current authorization will expire.

FULL story at link.