House OKs bill on child health

Revision still faces veto threat

WASHINGTON -- The House on Thursday approved a revised children's health insurance bill that Democrats said addressed Republican concerns, but President Bush again threatened to veto it.

The 265-142 tally fell short of the two-thirds needed to override a veto, but it raised the stakes in the political confrontation over children's health care.

Both sides have moved in the direction of a compromise since the House failed last week to override Bush's veto of the original bill. Yet there have been no direct negotiations between the administration and the legislation's congressional supporters, and each side blames the other for the impasse.

"If you feel as though we've been here before, it's because we have," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, an opponent.

At issue is the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which now provides coverage to 6 million children nationally whose parents earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance. The state-federal partnership must be renewed this year.

Congress approved a five-year, $60 billion bill that would have covered an additional 4 million children and given states the option of helping uninsured children in some middle-class families.

Bush originally insisted on a $30 billion program, which analysts said would not have been enough to cover the current caseload. The administration wanted to limit eligibility to children in families making about twice the federal poverty level.

Administration officials now say the president is willing to spend about $45 billion on the program and -- under certain conditions -- allow coverage of uninsured children in families making three times the national poverty level.

House Democrats said they also have made significant concessions. Their revised bill includes citizenship verification requirements and would bar states from using federal funds to cover children in families making more than three times the national poverty level.