President Obama, Congressional Democrats Seek To Pass SCHIP, Economic Stimulus Bills in First 100 Days

President Obama and congressional Democrats have begun to outline legislation -- such as an SCHIP bill and an economic stimulus package that includes funds for health care -- that they hope to pass during the first 100 days of the new administration, Roll Call reports. At the end of last week, the House and Senate "appeared close to putting the finishing touches" on legislation that would reauthorize SCHIP and expand enrollment in the program from six million to more than 10 million children, according to Roll Call. Obama and Democrats also seek to pass an $825 billion stimulus package that "would be one of the most ambitious and expensive bills in the nation's history" and "have made no secret of the fact that they consider the effort a precursor to passing comprehensive health care reform later this year," Roll Call reports (Dennis/Pierce, Roll Call, 1/26).

Many Democrats "believe the time is ripe to pass a universal health care bill in the 111th Congress because they control the White House and would only need the support of one, or perhaps a few Republicans in the Senate to clear the legislation," according to The Hill (Cusack, The Hill, 1/25). According to the Chicago Tribune, Obama has a "narrow window to create a system that would reduce costs while extending coverage to more people," and in the event that he allows the debate to "bleed into 2010, the effort could be entangled in the midterm congressional elections" (Nicholas/Parsons, Chicago Tribune, 1/25). Obama "has emphasized that the recession will not stop him from launching his effort to revamp the health care system" and "has vowed to enact major health care reforms by the end of his first term," The Hill reports (The Hill, 1/25).

Possible Obstacles
However, Democrats have acknowledged that "any plans for passing Obama's near-universal health care proposal could run into serious budgetary obstacles," and some have said that "health care reform may have to wait until another year," Roll Call reports (Roll Call, 1/26). House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Sunday during an appearance on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" said that Congress likely will not pass comprehensive health care reform legislation in 2009. He said that he favors a more incremental approach to health care reform, rather than to "go out and just bite something you can't chew."

According to The Hill, Clyburn "is at odds with the timetable proposed by Senate Democrats and could represent a major shift in the House Democrats' strategy of dealing with the uninsured" (Cusack, The Hill, 1/25).