The New York Times reports:
With enthusiastic support from President-elect Barack Obama, the House on Wednesday passed a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program. President Bush twice had vetoed similar legislation.
The House of Representatives voted 289 to 139 in favor of a measure to extend health insurance coverage to four million uninsured children. The bill, H.R.2, would expand the existing State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a federal program that funds states in order to provide health insurance for children of moderate income families who do not qualify for Medicaid.
Again, from the New York Times:
... Supporters never mustered more than 273 votes for similar legislation in the last two years.The bill, which would extend coverage to four million uninsured children, symbolizes the shift in priorities in Washington. The vote came five days after the House, defying a veto threat from Mr. Bush, passed two bills to combat sex discrimination by employers who pay women less than men doing the same or substantially similar work.The child health bill would provide $32.3 billion over four and a half years to continue coverage for seven million children who now rely on the program and to extend coverage to more than four million who are uninsured.
In an official statement following the vote, President-elect Obama said:
In this moment of crisis, ensuring that every child in America has access to affordable health care is not just good economic policy, but a moral obligation we hold as parents and citizens. That is why I’m so pleased that Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives came together to provide health insurance to over ten million children whose families have been hurt most by this downturn. This coverage is critical, it is fully paid for, and I hope that the Senate acts with the same sense of urgency so that it can be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am President.
The New York Times online also provides an interactive geographic map of the vote by Congressional District.
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