SACRAMENTO – President George Bush on Wednesday vetoed a bipartisan Congressional bill to expand health insurance coverage for the nation’s children, thereby depriving thousands of California children of badly-needed coverage.

The Bush veto blocks reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). SCHIP is a joint state-federal program which subsidizes health coverage for 6.6 million people (mostly children) from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford their own private coverage.

California receives more SCHIP funding than any other state. As a result of Bush’s veto, California stands to lose upwards of $739 million over the next five years, leaving nearly 775,000 of the state’s children without coverage.

North Coast Senator Patricia Wiggins (D–Santa Rosa) issued the following statement in response to the President’s action:

“This says a lot about the president’s badly misplaced sense of priorities that he would veto a bill to ensure health care coverage for millions of American children who are currently without coverage,” Wiggins said. “His subsequent proposal for an additional $5 billion in funding (the legislation Bush vetoed called for spending $35 billion over five years) falls far short of what is needed to bring millions of uninsured children into the nation’s health care system, and it is my sincere hope that the Senate and Congress vote to override his veto as quickly as possible.”

{mos_sb_discuss:2}