Rockefeller pushes to expand S-CHIP

2007-07-21

Source: The Charlestown Gazette

An additional 4,000 uninsured children in West Virginia may soon be covered under government health care, despite the threat of a presidential veto, says Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

Rockefeller is one of four senators who have led the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Policy, providing an additional $35 billion over five years to states, on top of the current $25 billion of funding.

S-CHIP covers low-income children whose parents are unable to afford health care for them, but make too much money annually to qualify them for Medicaid.

Bush, who has proposed a $5 billion increase over five years, threatens to veto any legislation that looks to expand the program, calling it “Congress’s attempt to federalize medicine.”

However, Rockefeller says he does not expect the president to veto the legislation in the end because Bush has two children of his own and the program will only help low-income children receive health care.

“This is not homeland security in the military sense. It’s homeland security in a more profound sense,” Rockefeller said.

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