Before midnight on August 3, the Senate voted to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by a vote of 68-31; the House passed its version of the bill on August 1 by a vote of 224-204.  This sets the wheels in motion for meeting the September 30 reauthorization deadline. When Congress returns from recess in September, a conference committee will meet to negotiate differences in the bills, of which there are several.  While President Bush has threatened to veto SCHIP because both bills exceed his $5 billion funding request, the Senate passed the legislation with a veto-proof majority. 

The Senate bill expands SCHIP by funding the bill at $35 billion over the next five years, covering an estimated 3.3 million additional children.  The bill also caps eligibility for children covered under SCHIP at three times the federal poverty level, and would gradually push adults out of the program – some states have received waivers that allow them to use leftover SCHIP funds to cover adults. The $35 billion increase will be funded through a 61-cent tobacco tax increase. 

The House bill expands SCHIP by funding it at nearly $50 billion over the next five years to cover an additional five million children; it has no income eligibility cap.  The $50 billion is funded through a 45-cent tobacco tax increase and a cut to Medicare Advantage, a program in which insurers provide benefits to seniors instead of the government.  The House bill also reauthorizes Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program, which had lapsed on June 30, with several improvements.  Notably, states would now have the flexibility to use funds for either abstinence-only or more comprehensive programs that include discussions about abstinence and contraception, and the programs must be medically and scientifically accurate and proven effective at reducing rates of pregnancies and STDs.  The bill also makes improvements to Medicare that should give people living with HIV/AIDS better access to treatment.  Families USA has developed a side-by-side comparing the House and Senate bill.