September 19, 2007

Negotiators Reach Deal On SCHIP Bill

Negotiators are putting the finishing touches on children's healthcare legislation, with lawmakers agreeing to a slightly modified version of the Senate's more modest State Children's Health Insurance Program bill.

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., predicted Tuesday that the Senate would be required to take a second vote on its package because of changes that the House will make when it votes on an SCHIP reauthorization next week.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., who helped write the Senate package, said Senate negotiators have agreed to "a couple of minor" changes to the Senate bill sought by House members, "but nothing that gets away from the basic principles."

Senate negotiators have rejected House requests to cover young adults up to 21 years old and legal immigrants, Rockefeller said.

Baucus said the deal, which staff was putting on paper Tuesday evening, would not go above the Senate's funding level of $35 billion in new money for SCHIP. The lawmakers spoke to reporters after meeting House and Senate leaders on the bill.

Timing for the next Senate vote on SCHIP is dependent on the House's vote, which is expected next Tuesday, just days ahead of the Sept. 30 expiration date for SCHIP.

Baucus said he did not expect delays during the Senate floor debate, as long as the deal stays close to the package that passed the Senate in July. "We can do it without a lot of straying," Baucus said.

Dental coverage and parity in mental health care are among the things House negotiators are seeking to include in the package.

Those enhancements are in the broader House-passed bill that Senate Republicans have rejected.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said adding dental coverage would cost an additional $300 million, which gives him pause because Republicans are trying to hold the line on expanding the program.

"On the other hand, I believe that if you don't take care of children's dental needs now, you're going to have problems in the future," Hatch said, adding that he is willing to listen to House members' requests as long as the changes do not cost any votes. Senate negotiators say they want to maintain the veto-proof margin of 68 votes from July's Senate vote.

With a bill on its way to the president's desk by the end of next week, Democrats will be safe in blaming the White House for allowing the program to expire, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

President Bush has threatened to veto the measure. If he does, it is unclear whether the House can muster a veto-proof margin.

If the president does not waver from his opposition to the package, GOP aides say there will be little willingness among House Republicans to vote for the more limited SCHIP bill.

But more moderate members might have difficulty rejecting the measure. House Republicans expected to lose 40 of their own on the broader House bill and were pleasantly surprised when they lost only four.

Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., who was involved in crafting the House package, said House Democrats are counting on Republicans to cross party lines and vote for a more limited SCHIP bill because some Democrats who voted for the House bill will not be able to tolerate the Senate bill's 61-cents-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax.

The House bill included a 45-cent increase in cigarette taxes.

The administration, for its part, is asking Congress to send the president a short-term extension of SCHIP.

"The proposals being discussed currently are unsound, and it looks increasingly unlikely that this will get resolved by Sept. 30," said an HHS official. "Congress needs to pass a clean extension now so low-income children will not lose their coverage and we will have sufficient time to continue to work on this issue."

Hoyer said children would not lose coverage immediately if the program is allowed to expire. Democrats are prepared to send the president a temporary SCHIP extension after a veto.

-Fawn Johnson, CongressDaily

Posted at 10:17 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush, Senate
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