President Barack Obama sees expansion of government health insurance to millions of lower-income children as a first step of several to come in providing coverage for all Americans.
Ending a two-year effort by Democrats, Obama signed legislation late Wednesday that will allow about 7 million children to continue coverage through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and allow an additional 4 million to sign up. Unlike other developed countries, the United States does not have universal health care.
The measure was similar to two bills vetoed by former President George W. Bush. It was pushed through both the House and Senate by Democrats eager to give Obama an early victory on health care.
Most lawmakers and advocacy groups in the health reform debate acknowledge that the next steps toward reform will be harder than expanding SCHIP, given the increasing federal deficit.