House fails to override child-health veto

WASHINGTON -- The failure by House lawmakers to override a veto of children's health-care legislation Thursday illustrated how difficult it will be to overhaul the larger insurance system, even though it is a national priority.

Insuring children was considered the easiest part of the health-overhaul challenge because they are cheaper to cover and support for doing so is high.

But the debate bogged down on two key questions also at the heart of broader changes to cover the 47 million uninsured: costs and the role of government in helping middle-class families, not just the poor.

President Bush earlier this month vetoed a measure expanding a program that provides health insurance for children of the working poor. As expected, Thursday's attempt to override his veto failed.

In the 273-156 vote, those seeking an override fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed. Despite a two-week campaign to pressure Republicans to switch, only 44 voted to override. In the Washington delegation, only Republican Doc Hastings voted to uphold the veto.

The Senate passed the measure by a veto-proof majority Sept. 27.

The White House and some leading proponents of the legislation urged negotiations on a compromise to extend the program, which serves about 6 million children.

But, after a House debate that turned acrimonious, it remained unclear whether they would find common ground.

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., accused Republicans of funding the Iraq war but not children's health.

"You don't have money to fund the war or children," Stark said. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she's happy to negotiate with the White House, "as long as the bottom line is that 10 million children are covered. That is not negotiable."

The impasse has repercussions for states that administer the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, as the federal-state partnership is called. It was designed to cover children whose parents earned too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance.

Funding for the program was set to expire Sept. 30, but Congress and the president extended it through mid-November.

The congressional bill, a compromise between Democrats and leading Senate Republicans, called for spending $60 billion over five years to cover about 10 million children. The legislation would have allowed states to extend coverage to uninsured children in middle-class families making up to about $62,000 for a family of four -- three times the federal poverty level -- but it discouraged expansions above that income range.

To finance the expanded coverage, the bill would have sharply raised tobacco taxes.

For comparison, Bush has proposed spending $30 billion over five years.

The president has said he is willing to spend more money, but he wants the program to focus on enrolling children in families making roughly under $41,000 a year, or about twice the federal poverty level.

Material from McClatchy Newspapers and The Associated Press is included in this report.