House Likely To Pass $120B Supplemental Appropriations Bill With Funds for SCHIP, Health Care for Veterans

The House and Senate on Thursday likely will approve a $120 billion fiscal year 2007 supplemental appropriations bill (HR 2206) for military operations in Iraq that includes $17 billion for nonmilitary programs, such as SCHIP, the Washington Times reports (Miller, Washington Times, 5/14).

President Bush on May 1 vetoed an earlier version of the bill because of opposition to provisions that called for the withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008, as well as the inclusion of funds for nonmilitary programs. The House on May 2 failed to override the veto.

The House on May 10 voted 221-205 to approve a new version of the legislation, and the Senate last week voted 94-1 to approve a "placeholder" bill that includes no funds to allow negotiations on a final version of the legislation to begin. Senate and House leaders on Tuesday agreed on a $120 billion bill that would exceed the amount Bush requested for domestic spending by about $8 billion. Under the agreement, the House on Thursday will vote on two separate amendments to the bill approved by the Senate last week: one to provide $103 billion requested by Bush for military operations and one to provide $17 proposed by Democrats for nonmilitary programs (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/23).

Among other provisions, the amendment would provide $650 million to address SCHIP budget deficits in Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska and Rhode Island (Evans, AP/Macon Telegraph, 5/23). The amendment also would provide funds for health care for troops and veterans but would not provide funds for pandemic flu preparedness included in earlier versions of the bill (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/23).

After the House vote, the Senate likely will approve the bill, and Bush likely will sign the legislation (Higa et al., CQ Today, 5/23).

Groups Call for Tobacco Tax Increase To Fund SCHIP Expansion
In related news, 67 groups that represent health care providers, consumers and businesses have asked lawmakers to increase the federal tobacco tax by 61 cents to $1 per pack to help fund an expansion of SCHIP and improve public health, CQ HealthBeat reports. In a letter to the chairs and ranking members of congressional committees with jurisdiction over health care programs, the groups wrote, "Studies show that every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by 7% and overall cigarette consumption by 4%," which would reduce health care spending through a decrease in the number of cases of diseases related to smoking.

Groups such as the American Medical Association, America's Health Insurance Plans and Families USA signed the letter (CQ HealthBeat, 5/23).