WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress approved on
Wednesday a bill expanding a health insurance program for
children and raising tobacco taxes to pay for it, giving
President Barack Obama a big legislative victory a day after
his pick to lead a healthcare industry overhaul stepped aside.
The House of Representatives voted 290-135 for the $32.8
billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program, or SCHIP, which was approved by the Senate last week.
Democratic leaders are rushing the bill to Obama, who plans
to sign it at a White House ceremony on Wednesday. Former
Republican President George W. Bush twice vetoed similar
legislation.
“Today, the objective of years of work will be
substantially advanced. With this vote, and with President
Obama’s immediate signature, this bill will at long last be
law,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
The signing ceremony should provide a lift for Obama a day
after he acknowledged mistakes in the handling of Tom Daschle’s
nomination as his point man to lead a broader overhaul of the
$2.3 trillion U.S. healthcare industry.
Daschle, a former Senate minority leader, withdrew his name
from consideration as secretary of health and human services
because of tax problems.
The SCHIP program aims to help working families who cannot
afford private health insurance but earn too much to qualify
for Medicaid healthcare coverage for the poor. The additional
money for the program will help states insure as many as 11
million children, compared with about 7.4 million currently
enrolled in the program.