Bush Vetos CHIP Again, Hatch Continues Support

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Maybe the third time will be a charm for Senator Orrin Hatch and his Democratic allies pushing to fund the state Children's Health Insurance program - or CHIP. President Bush once again vetoed the proposal on Wednesday. Hatch says he was not surprised.

However, let me be clear that I remain committed to working with my house and senate colleagues on a compromise CHIP bill," syas Hatch. "While I think it's very unlikely a CHIP reauthorization bill will be passed by Congress by the end of this year, I remain confident we'll be able to pass a compromise in the House by late January of next year."

That leaves the future of the CHIP program in question, since it expired in September. Congress authorized it to continue temporarily until another funding plan could be negotiated. The second version vetoed by the President would have provided 35-billion dollars over the next five years to help an additional 10-million low-income children receive health insurance. That's roughly the same thing the President vetoed in the first CHIP bill. And both versions have enough Republican detractors to sustain the veto.

Opponents say expanding the program is a step toward government-run health care. Earlier in the week, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman requested 30-million dollars in his state budget to expand both CHIP and Medicaid as a step toward covering the state's uninsured population. That move has also been met with criticism from state Republican lawmakers.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW