WASHINGTON, Jan 14, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama
is poised to gain a quick victory as the House of Representatives votes
Wednesday on a children's health bill, analysts say.
A move to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program is expected to
pass easily and is backed by Obama, who made a campaign pledge to guarantee
healthcare for every U.S. child, The Washington Post reported. While the $33
billion effort to expand SCHIP won't do that, backers see it as a "downpayment"
on the pledge.
"This is going to get money to states so they can insure the children of the
working poor who are losing their jobs," Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a
proponent of the House bill, told the newspaper. "The great majority of American
people believe we should give kids health insurance."
The move would extend SCHIP coverage to an additional 4.1 million children
living at or near the poverty line who fall outside the Medicaid system. It
would be paid for primarily through a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal
cigarette tax.
President George Bush twice vetoed similar moves in 2007, and Republican
opposition to the bill remains high, the Post said.
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