Lawmakers at SCHIP impasse while funding ends in mid-November

Democrats pledged to introduce a slightly modified children's health bill quickly in an attempt to achieve a veto-proof majority.

By Doug Trapp, AMNews staff. Nov. 5, 2007.

Washington -- Physician organizations expressed dismay and vowed to press forward after the House on Oct. 18 failed to override President Bush's veto of a children's health care bill.

The American Medical Association will continue to work with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to pass legislation reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, said Board of Trustees Chair Edward L. Langston, MD.

"The number of uninsured kids has increased by nearly 1 million over the past two years, and action must be taken to reverse this growing trend," he said. SCHIP expired Sept. 30, but Congress extended funding until Nov. 16.

The American College of Physicians is urging lawmakers to pass another bill with levels of funding and coverage comparable to the vetoed version. "The current SCHIP formula clearly does not go far enough," said David C. Dale, MD, the college's president. "Until SCHIP is reauthorized, millions of children will be at risk of being denied basic health care needs."

But both parties are reluctant to change their opposing stances on program funding and eligibility.

Democratic leaders' strategy is to amend the bill slightly to attract the Republican votes needed to achieve a veto-proof majority.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.) and other Democrats said they would not support a measure that covers fewer children than the five-year, $60 billion Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 would have covered. Bush vetoed the bill on Oct. 3.