Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are gearing up for both 2009 and a new administration in the White House. When it comes to health care, the first on the list (it seems) is expanding coverage for the State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
At first, lawmakers planned on including the funding for the expansion in an economic stimulus bill, but are now considering pushing the effort in stand-alone legislation.
According to the Associated Press and the Miami Herald, the new bill will be similar to those that were vetoed by President Bush twice in 2007.
But details still have to be ironed out. Legislators have to decide how much funding to push for and how long to extend the program’s lifespan. Newly seated chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. Representative Harry Waxman, said that those specifics are yet to be determined, wrote the AP article.