U.S. Congress passes child health insurance bill

The U.S. Congress has approved the health insurance bill for children and will pay for it by raising tobacco taxes, giving President Obama a major victory after the Daschle miscue.

The House of Representatives passed the $32.8 billion State Children’s Health Insurance Program or SCHIP bill, despite a huge Republican opposition by a wide margin, 290-135. President Obama will likely sign it later today at the White House. Former President Bush vetoed the same bill twice. The House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland told Reuters:

Today, the objective of years of work will be substantially advanced. With this vote, and with President Obama's immediate signature, this bill will at long last be law.

President Obama thought Tom Daschle’s nomination will help overhaul the U.S. health care industry but because of tax problems Daschle had to withdraw his name as the secretary of health and human services. Others thought this would adversely affect Obama’s health care policy but it didn’t harm the bill. The SCHIP program will help working families who can’t afford private health insurance but don’t qualify for Medicaid health care coverage for the poor. This will help the states to insure as many as 11 million children compared with 7.4 million enrolled in the SCHIP program now. This program will be paid by raising cigarette taxes to $1 a pack. The taxes on cigars and tobacco products will also rise.