Expanding Coverage for Children — The Democrats' Power and SCHIP Reauthorization

Abstract

In the first demonstration of Democratic dominance on health care issues since Barack Obama captured the White House, the new Congress quickly reauthorized the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), enabling the president to sign the measure into law within days after taking office. Though falling short of President Obama's goal of ensuring that “every child in America has access to affordable health care,” the measure should sustain SCHIP's current enrollment of about 7 million and expand coverage to an additional 4.1 million children by 2013.The rapid action underscored Democrats' intention to reverse or amend many health policies put . . .