USCM wants Congress to override SCHIP veto
As expected, President Bush vetoed a bill that would add $35 billion to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) over the next five years. Now, the Washington-based U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) is calling on Congress to override the veto.
USCM, along with several other state and local government organizations, had sent letters to Congress in support of the SCHIP expansion bill. Congress passed the bill last week, along with a stopgap spending bill that will fund the program at its regular levels until mid-November. Bush signed the stopgap bill but vetoed the expansion bill on Wednesday. “We are extremely disappointed because this is no more than a political move that ultimately hurts children,” USCM President and Trenton, N.J., Mayor Douglas Palmer said in a statement. “No child in our nation should be without insurance. While the government is laying out billions of dollars to fund the war in Iraq, it is imperative that the administration recognizes the need to also take care of its people at home.”
While the Bush administration contends it strongly supports the reauthorization of SCHIP, it says the current bill “goes too far toward federalizing health care.” “[The bill] turns a program meant to help low-income children into one that covers children in households with incomes of up to $83,000 a year,” according to a Statement of Administration Policy issued by the Office of Management and Budget. Bush proposes a $5 billion increase in SCHIP funding.