Expanded Children's Health Insurance Program Saves Money

Posted by Kaitlin Lanier

Before the dust had settled over reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, some Republicans in Congress were grousing about messiness in its passage. But surely providing healthcare coverage to millions more uninsured children constitutes progress worth making.

The measure that President Barack Obama signed into law Wednesday had more in it than a version that President Bush had vetoed twice despite the bipartisan compromise that produced it. But the additions certainly weren’t enough to turn good legislation into bad law.

In fact, the law includes some key provisions that Republicans had insisted on.

More important, it’s a good-government investment that will improve kids’ health and save taxpayers money in the long run by encouraging timely and preventive medical care and less reliance on expensive emergency services.

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This SCHIP will sail, State Children's Health Insurance Program pushed by Obama

Posted by Jen Lynch

Obama hailed the 289 to 139 vote and nudged the Senate to act with the "same sense of urgency so that it can be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am president."

The president-elect vowed as a candidate to provide health coverage to every child, and the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, is a major down payment toward meeting that goal. "In this moment of crisis, ensuring that every child in America has access to affordable health care is not just good economic policy, but a moral obligation we hold as parents and citizens," Obama said.

The House legislation would cost nearly $33 billion over 4 1/2 years and would be funded in part by a cigarette tax increase of 61 cents to $1 per pack. Bush vetoed two similar bills in 2007, objecting to the tax increase and the expansion of government health care. The Senate Finance Committee will take up a similar measure today, with floor action expected to begin next week.

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