Editor's Update, Oct. 3, 2007:  Bush Vetoes SCHIP Bill

The children's health-insurance bill passed by the House and Senate this week not only raises federal tobacco taxes to pay for expanded health care but also requires state programs to treat addiction and mental-health disorders on par with physical illnesses.

The Senate voted 67-29 on Sept. 27 to approve the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The legislation would add $60 billion to SCHIP over the next five years, providing health coverage to an additional 4 million uninsured children. Currently, state-run SCHIP programs cover 6.6 million children whose families have incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but can't afford health insurance.

The House approved the measure by a 265-159 vote on Sept. 25. Both measures received significant bipartisan support, but President Bush has threatened to veto the measure, claiming it represents a step towards "government-run health care." The bill also is opposed by groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which objects to funding children's health care with a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tobacco excise tax.

"To target a narrow sector of the U.S. economy with the aim of funding a broad-based entitlement program is grossly unfair and burdensome to American businesses and consumers, as well as for those regions of the United States whose economic well-being relies upon tobacco-based agricultural and industrial activities," according to the business group.

The Bush administration was slammed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for opposing the SCHIP legislation, which was cosponsored in the Senate by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The New York Times reported Sept. 28 that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), one of 18 Republicans to vote for the Senate bill, said the White House has demonstrated "little if any willingness to come to the negotiating table" over the measure, and that Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) called arguments against the bill "intellectually dishonest."

Some SCHIP supporters also criticized Bush for declaring the expansion of the program too expensive while pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the Iraq war.

"President Bush now faces a clear choice: Stand with America's children by signing the bill or stand with Big Tobacco by vetoing it," said William Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Other major supporters of the SCHIP expansion include health insurers, the American Medical Association, and the AARP seniors' group.

The SCHIP bill garnered sufficient votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto, but not in the House, even though 45 GOP House members voted in favor of the measure.

Parity Amendment Added

During the debate over the Senate measure, lawmakers approved an amendment introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) that incorporates the language of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act into the SCHIP bill.

The amendment requires that all children covered by SCHIP receive addiction and mental-health benefits on par with traditional medical/surgical benefits, and bars states from imposing different co-pays or capping treatment length-of-stays. "Our bill will provide comprehensive health care that equitably treats ailments of both the mind and body," said Smith.

"Children shouldn't be discriminated against just because they have mental-health or substance-abuse issues," Kerry told Join Together. "Health care should be able to cover all aspects of a child's well-being. Instead of discriminating against mental health -- which is essentially what we're doing now -- we can, and should, offer services that improve children's performance in school, keep them out of the juvenile-justice system, and help them lead better lives."