Democrats Suffer Loss as House Extends SCHIP

Children's Health

Democrats Suffer Loss as House Extends SCHIP

by Julie Rovner

Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET

All Things Considered, December 19, 2007 · The Democratic-led Congress on Wednesday officially waved the white flag of surrender on its top domestic issue: the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. Eleven months and two presidential vetoes after vowing to expand its reach, the House instead passed and sent to President Bush a bill that will essentially continue the program in its current form until 2009.

Democrats had little choice in the matter. With Christmas fast approaching, they were in a fix. They had two health funding emergencies. First, temporary funding for SCHIP — whose authorization technically expired Oct. 1 — was about to run out once again. Second, on Jan. 1, a 10 percent cut in pay to doctors under Medicare was set to take effect; something Democrats, Republicans, and the Bush administration agree shouldn't be allowed to happen.

But President Bush and Republicans had nixed most of the ways Democrats wanted to pay for either the Medicare changes or the SCHIP expansion. That basically gave Republicans the upper hand, and left the majority Democrats, with little more to do than fume.

"What we have before us gives the lowest common denominator a bad name," said Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), chairman of the House Ways and Means health subcommittee. "It shows the Republicans in their truest form: Help the rich at the expense of the poor and deny government services to anyone and only help the profit industries who pay them so generously through their campaign contributions."

And, adding insult to injury, Republicans insisted on continuing SCHIP at its current funding levels not just until next September — as Democrats wanted, but until March 2009 instead — four months after the November 2008 elections.

more