The Washington Post (9/26, A4, Lee, Weisman) adds that the compromise SCHIP bill agreed to by the House and Senate "would expand the $5 billion-a-year children's health insurance program by an average of $7 billion a year over the next five years, for total funding of $60 billion over [that] period." If the bill were to become law, SCHIP would cover about "10 million [children], up from 6.6 million, and dramatically reduce the ranks of America's 9 million uninsured children." The Post points out that "the compromise worked out between the House and the Senate has garnered the support of the health insurance industry, AARP, the American Medical Association, governors from both parties and a platoon of children's health advocates." However, SCHIP opponents contend that "the measure would push children already covered by private health insurance into publicly financed healthcare, while creating an 'entitlement' whose costs would ultimately outstrip the money raised by the bill's 61-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax."

Meanwhile, Bloomberg (9/26, Marcus) notes, "When SCHIP began, its target was children in families making no more than double the federal poverty level, currently $41,000 for a family of four." Since then, several states have modified SCHIP eligibility requirements to include families with higher annual incomes. For instance, "New Jersey, the most generous, covers kids in families earning up to $72,275, or 350 percent of the poverty level." One provision of the House bill "would let states retain flexibility to enroll who[m] they want, while reducing the reimbursement rate for families earning more than $62,000, or three times the poverty rate."

According to the AP (9/26, Babington), "The Senate appears poised to pass the SCHIP expansion by a large margin later this week, but a Senate bid to override a veto would be pointless if the House override effort falls short." In order to "overturn a presidential veto, both chambers of Congress must produce two-thirds majorities. The 265 yes votes in the House are two dozen fewer than Democrats would need to override Bush's veto, and House leaders expect few members to switch positions."

USA Today (9/26, Wolf) adds, "Forty-one governors supported the bill, which provides more generous allotments of federal funds for state-run programs." USA Today continues, "Because a veto is expected, much of the attention Tuesday was on the political fallout." Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the Republican congressional campaign committee, said that "Republicans will support a less costly compromise. 'I don't think it will be a decisive bill in the 2008 elections.'"

 But in a statement printed in The Hill (9/26) Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) wrote that President Bush "is putting ideology and political confrontation ahead of the health of our nation's children." He "has unilaterally declared war on SCHIP, and is threatening to veto the bipartisan bill." He added, "No child's healthcare should be held hostage by politicians in Washington -- especially by a president's veto pen."