President Bush has threatened to veto the $35 million increase to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover approximately 10 million children. The program currently provides health coverage for 6.6 million children who come from modest-income families that cannot afford health insurance but are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.
A solid Democratic majority, along with eighteen Republicans, passed the expansion in the Senate 67-29 last Thursday. The House passed the bill Tuesday, 265-159.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a Capitol ceremony celebrating the expansion’s passing that there “are 10 million reasons” for Bush to sign the bill, citing the number of children the proposed expansion would cover, according to the Associated Press.