Even before the president vetoed the bipartisan bill to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), Democratic leaders said this legislation wouldn’t quietly fade away. They would bring the bill back up, over and over again.
Apparently, that starts today, with another vote on the $35 billion plan. The bill isn’t exactly the same — it costs the same amount, and it covers the same amount of kids, but it’s been tailored to address the Republicans’ excuses for opposing the measure.
The new version will underscore that illegal immigrants will not have access to the expanded program. It will ease adults off the program in one year, rather than the two in the vetoed version. And it establishes a firmer eligibility cap at 300 percent of the federal poverty line, just more than $60,000 for a family of four. […]
The new bill seeks to allay concerns laid out by 38 Republicans seeking to vote for the next version. Perhaps most important, it stipulates that applicants must have their Social Security numbers checked by the Social Security Administration. If Social Security cannot confirm citizenship, applicants will be required to provide states with documentation proving eligibility.
It stipulates that no funds will be available to states to cover children in families with incomes exceeding 300 percent of the poverty level. Performance bonuses will be offered to states only for enrolling additional children in Medicaid, the program for the truly poor.
To answer criticism that the bill would encourage families with private health insurance onto government-funded health care, the new version adds performance bonuses for states that provide funding to employed parents to cover the additional cost of enrolling their children in their existing private policies.
If reality has any meaning at all, this should make it at least a little tougher for some of these Republicans to oppose healthcare for low-income kids. As Speaker Pelosi put it, “The bill addresses all of the concerns that were expressed by our colleagues and by the president. We hope the Republicans will take yes for an answer.”
Indeed, it appears that GOP obstinacy is starting to wane.
On the Hill, Republican lawmakers quietly concede they’re feeling nervous…
At a contentious House GOP meeting with Leavitt on Tuesday night, wavering Republicans pledged that they would stand with the president. But others quietly voiced concerns that the SCHIP showdown is taking a toll on their political prospects.
…while Republicans in the Bush administration are suddenly willing to invest quite a bit more in the S-CHIP program than the president has previously acknowledged.
Bush administration officials yesterday voiced conciliation, suggesting the president could accept legislation that would expand the program by about $20 billion over five years, far bigger than the $5 billion expansion that Bush initially proposed.
Stay tuned.