Obama Calls SCHIP First Step

Calling it “the first step” to health coverage for “every single
American,” on Wednesday President Obama signed the SCHIP bill into
law to reauthorize and expand the program. The State
Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers low-income
children whose families don’t qualify for Medicaid, was to expire
March 31 without congressional action.

Under the new law, children in families with incomes of up to
three times the federal poverty level will qualify for the program.
The measure, which calls for increased SCHIP spending of $32.8
billion, will be funded with a 62-cent-per-pack hike in the federal
cigarette tax.

HME providers narrowly escaped cuts to oxygen and power
wheelchairs in Congress’ last debate over expansion of the program
(see Providers Must
Head Off SCHIP Provisions, HME Lobbyists Say, HomeCare
Monday, Aug. 20, 2007).