Children's Health Insurance Expansion Passed in U.S. Senate and Republicans aren't happy. If theres only one position thats morally and politically correct in the entire country, its that all children should have health insurance. That was the case since 1997, when the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created. And today marks the third time Congress has approved the expansion of SCHIP, providing access to the program for millions more children.
It seems that the third time is the charm, along with a new White House as President Barack Obama is all but guaranteed to sign the expansion approved by both houses of Congress. Today, the Senate approved SCHIP expansion in a lopsided 66 to 32 vote, reported the Washington Post. Previously, we mentioned that even this politically correct bill couldnt escape partisan politics. And after todays vote, thats still the case.
It seems the sticking point for Republicans was a provision that allowed some legal immigrants to enroll in SCHIP. GOP lawmakers wanted to keep the law as-is, which forces legal immigrants to wait five years before they become eligible. In the last expansion bill, lawmakers compromised and omitted the immigrant provision, but with a strong majority and a Democratic president, the Senate Democrats re-added it.
The debate got heated in the chamber and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah was among the most vocal. He felt that the bill could have gotten 95 votes if the provision hadn't been added in, and added that he felt that the addition of it was like a slap in the face from the members of the other party.
Democrats saw it a bit differently.The bottom line is: This is a debate about childrens health coverage. This is not a debate about immigration, said Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois. A familiar argument also came from the Republican side in the debate when Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi questioned, Is the real intent of this legislation to replace the private health care system with a government-run health care system? Partisan health insurance politics is here stay it seems.
It seems that the third time is the charm, along with a new White House as President Barack Obama is all but guaranteed to sign the expansion approved by both houses of Congress. Today, the Senate approved SCHIP expansion in a lopsided 66 to 32 vote, reported the Washington Post. Previously, we mentioned that even this politically correct bill couldnt escape partisan politics. And after todays vote, thats still the case.
It seems the sticking point for Republicans was a provision that allowed some legal immigrants to enroll in SCHIP. GOP lawmakers wanted to keep the law as-is, which forces legal immigrants to wait five years before they become eligible. In the last expansion bill, lawmakers compromised and omitted the immigrant provision, but with a strong majority and a Democratic president, the Senate Democrats re-added it.
The debate got heated in the chamber and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah was among the most vocal. He felt that the bill could have gotten 95 votes if the provision hadn't been added in, and added that he felt that the addition of it was like a slap in the face from the members of the other party.
Democrats saw it a bit differently.The bottom line is: This is a debate about childrens health coverage. This is not a debate about immigration, said Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois. A familiar argument also came from the Republican side in the debate when Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi questioned, Is the real intent of this legislation to replace the private health care system with a government-run health care system? Partisan health insurance politics is here stay it seems.
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