GOP fails to limit children's health program

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans fell short Wednesday in their effort to curtail the expansion of a government health insurance program for lower-income children.

The Senate rejected the Republican proposal by a resounding 65-32 vote. Democratic lawmakers say the GOP's legislation didn't go far enough, covering only about 2 million uninsured children, or roughly half the number that Democrats' seek to cover.

The Senate is considering this week the renewal of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The program is a state-federal partnership that provides government-sponsored health insurance to children of the working poor.

Democrats want to more than double spending on SCHIP. President Barack Obama has urged Congress to quickly send him a children's health bill that he can sign into law. The House has already passed a bill comparable to the one before the Senate.

Republicans offered an alternative approach through an amendment sponsored by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. McConnell argued that his amendment focused more on helping low-income families and did not rely on tax increases to pay for the additional health spending. His amendment also would not allow federal funding to extend health coverage to children of newly arrived legal immigrants, as the Democratic bill allows.

The amendment's defeat was the latest setback for Republican lawmakers seeking to limit SCHIP's expansion.

Democratic-led efforts to expand SCHIP rely on higher taxes on tobacco. The tax on a pack of cigarettes would increase from 39 cents to $1 a pack.

Meanwhile, McConnell's proposal generated revenue mostly by lowering certain Medicaid payments to the states. Overall, his amendment would have increased federal health spending for children by about $9 billion over the next 4 1/2 years. The Democrats' bill would increase spending by about $31.5 billion.

"Our legislation will provide coverage to nearly 2 million low-income children who currently lack health insurance," McConnell said. "And it does so in a fiscally responsible manner without raising taxes."

Republicans sought to limit the federal government's share of Medicaid spending for administrative tasks to no more than 50 percent of overall costs. Now, many states, particularly poorer states, get a higher federal match. Officials said the change would force states to become more efficient in administering their Medicaid programs. The change would have saved the federal government an estimated $11 billion over five years.