Children's Health Bill Override Fails To Get Two-thirds Majority, USA

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Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 24 Jan 2008 - 0:00 PST

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260 votes to 152 were not enough to get the two-thirds majority required to override President George Bush's second veto of a bill that is aimed at expanding a federal children's health program. Expanding a children's health program is expected to be a hot issue during the coming presidential elections.

This popular bill intends to include approximately 10 million children from low to moderate income families in a health insurance program, rather than the current number of about 6.6 million. It was envisaged that tobacco tax would covered the increased costs incurred by covering the extra children.

At the moment in the USA there is a kind of no-man's-land. There are families who cannot afford private health insurance, but do not qualify for Medicaid because they are not poor enough. The program is aimed at these very people.

A version of the bill was vetoed by President Bush in October 2007. Congress soon passed another bill. However, this new bill included tax increases which the Bush administration was not keen on. Bush feared the Democrats were pushing the Bill towards a European/Canadian style state-run health care system. Democrats say all the extra (tax) money is for is to provide cover for children who do not currently have cover.

The USA spends approximately 16% of its economy on health care, compared to about 8.2% in Western Europe. In the USA about 50 million Americans have no health cover at all, and many tens of millions have 'inadequate' cover. In most of Western Europe, plus Canada, everybody has health care cover - nobody is left out. In England, if you are over 65, under 18, pregnant or unemployed, your prescription drugs are all free - for the rest of the population, the top price for prescriptions is $12 dollars.

Written by - Christian Nordqvist.
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