On Dec. 29, 2007, President Bush signed into law S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, which extends funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through March 31, 2009. Among other provisions, the law also provides a 0.5 percent Medicare payment increase for physicians for six months, and extends transitional medical assistance eligibility for Medicaid beneficiaries for six months.
The Senate approved the bill unanimously on Dec. 18; a day later, the House passed the legislation with a vote of 411 to 3.
Although Democrats had hoped to expand SCHIP to cover an additional 4 million children, Bush had vetoed such expansion twice before, citing the fact that the proposed bills did not put neediest children first. According to the
Associated Press, Democratic lawmakers still want to expand enrollment and are negotiating with some Republicans leaders on another try.
