Bush To Veto Healthcare For Kids

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (known as SCHIP—or just plain CHIP) was created 10 years ago to provide health coverage to children whose families can't afford it but who also don't qualify for Medicaid (the public program that covers the lowest income Americans). CHIP has been enormously successful and covers millions of children today. The original program was scheduled to expire on September 30 of this year. Without legislation to keep it running, CHIP could expire. Fortunately, Congress worked hard over the last year to pass legislation both parties could agree on. But the President vetoed that legislation, and if Congress is unable to override the veto, millions of children could lose access to basic health care.