A number of medial outlets covered yesterday's House vote to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program, with many framing it as a victory for President-elect Barack Obama and a "down payment" on Democratic plans to overhaul the nation's healthcare system.
The Financial Times (1/15, Luce) reports, "Congress on Wednesday voted for a large expansion in healthcare coverage for children in what Democrats said would be the first step towards providing universal insurance to the 47 million Americans who do not have it." The Times notes that President Bush twice vetoed similar measures, adding that some four million more children will be covered under the current measure. According to the Times, Obama "urged the Senate to follow" the House's lead, but "gave little clue about any timetable for moving to universal health insurance." The Times also suggests that, despite some "bitter" resistance to the provision's 61-cent-per-tax cigarette tax among some Republicans, the measure was still likely to pass the Senate.
The New York Times (1/15, Pear) reports that the bill passed "with enthusiastic support from" the President-elect, who "will probably be able to sign the bill within days of taking office on Tuesday." The Times says the bill "symbolizes the shift in priorities in Washington" foreshadowed by last week's workplace sex discrimination bills.
The Washington Post (1/15, Murray, Connolly) adds that the House "easily" passed the measure, voting 289 to 139, and calls SCHIP "a major down payment" toward Obama's campaign promise of universal child healthcare. "The House legislation would cost nearly $33 billion over 4 1/2 years," the Post reports, noting that the Senate will likely see floor action on its version of the bill next week.
The AP (1/15, Freking) also reports on the House's "down payment," noting that "between 300,000 and 600,000 of the new enrollees could be non-citizen children of legal immigrants who have been in the country less than five years, a sticking point for some Senate Republicans who also will consider a similar bill. Obama said he hoped the Senate acts with the 'same sense of urgency so that it can be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am President.' ... About seven million children now get government-sponsored healthcare through SCHIP." In a separate piece, the AP (1/15) reports that the bill would "expand government-sponsored healthcare to four million more children of working families."
The Los Angeles Times (1/15, Levey) frames the vote as an "early legislative victory" for Obama which would "halve the number of uninsured children in the country." The Times reports that GOP opposition to the measure centers on its being a move toward universal coverage and the expansion of coverage to children above the federal poverty line.
Several other media outlets also covered the SCHIP vote, including Bloomberg News (1/15, Marcus, Stern), AFP (1/15), the Washington Times (1/15, Lengell), the San Francisco Chronicle, MarketWatch (1/15, Mantell), and CNN (1/15).
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