Senator Voinovich offers SCHIP compromise

Now that the U.S. House has failed to override President Bush's SCHIP veto, Ohio Senator George Voinovich believes a proposal he unveiled on Oct. 18 could be the beginnings of a compromise. (Source: "Voinovich helps spearhead GOP SCHIP proposal," Columbus Dispatch Daily Briefing blog, by Jonathan Riskind, Washington bureau chief.) According to Voinovich's staff, the Republican proposal would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $11.5 billion over five years while also offering $20 billion in tax credits to help sign children up for health coverage. This would evidently "be enough to continue to cover children from families at up to 200 percent of poverty and the child health care tax credit would help cover some children from families with incomes up to 300 percent of poverty."