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Congress set to vote this week on health insurance for low-income children
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WASHINGTON - Congress is poised to give President-elect Barack Obama a quick victory by passing a bill to provide health insurance to millions of low-income children.
Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic leader, said the bill, scheduled for a vote this week, was "very much like" legislation twice vetoed by President Bush in 2007. Legal authority for the program expires March 31.
Congressional Democrats said they had decided to add a major provision allowing states to restore health insurance benefits to legal immigrants younger than 21, a goal of Hispanic groups since those benefits were terminated in 1996.
This part of the bill deals only with legal immigrants. But it could revive the debate over immigration, as many Republicans want to establish stricter verification rules to prevent illegal immigrants from getting health benefits.
Under current law, legal immigrants are generally barred from Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years after they enter the United States. The Democrats' proposal would give states the option of covering children and pregnant women, with the federal government subsidizing the costs as usual under both programs.
Supporters said it would cover 10 million children, providing benefits for nearly 4 million who are uninsured, while continuing coverage for 6.6 million youngsters already enrolled. The federal government now spends more than $5 billion a year on the program. The expansion is likely to more than double that cost.
Experts estimate that 400,000 to 600,000 immigrant children affected by the restrictions could get insurance under the bill.
"Children should not be forced to wait five years for health care," said Jennifer Ng'andu, a health policy specialist at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic rights group. "Five years is a lifetime to a child."
Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican whip, said Republicans had concerns about expanding the program before the original purpose of the program was achieved.
Among children, immigrants are less likely than citizens to receive immunizations and routine dental care. Leighton Ku of George Washington University said the five-year wait had harmed children who would become citizens. "About half of all low-income immigrant children are now uninsured," he said.
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