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Continued: House votes to expand health coverage for kids
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WASHINGTON - The House easily approved an expansion of government health coverage for low-income children Wednesday, a top priority for President-elect Barack Obama and the first in a series of stalled measures expected to move quickly through the Democratic Congress as President Bush leaves office.
Obama hailed the 289-139 vote and nudged the Senate to act with the "same sense of urgency so that it can be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am president."
Obama vowed as a candidate to provide health coverage to every child, and the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program is a major down payment toward meeting that goal. "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," he said.
The House legislation would cost nearly $33 billion over 4 1/2 years and would be funded in part by a cigarette tax increase of 61 cents to $1 per pack. Bush vetoed two similar bills in 2007, objecting to the tax increase and the expansion of government health care. The Senate Finance Committee will take up a similar measure today, with floor action expected to begin next week.
The House bill would provide health insurance to an additional 4.1 million children and parents, including legal immigrant children and pregnant women, who now must wait five years before becoming eligible for the program. A total of 11 million individuals could now receive coverage.
Freshman Minnesota Republican Erik Paulsen cast his first big congressional vote Wednesday, siding with Democrats in favor of the program.
The vote served as the first indication of how he will serve as he succeeds his one-time mentor, Jim Ramstad, a well-known Republican centrist.
"I don't agree with every provision in the bill and I'm unhappy with the process by which the bill was considered, but on balance I believe we must provide health care to those children who need it most," Paulsen said.
Among the rest of the Minnesota delegation, voting for the program were Democrats Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Jim Oberstar, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz. Voting against were Republicans Michele Bachmann and John Kline.
Staff writer Mitch Anderson contributed to this report.
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