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| House Approves CHAMP Act and Senate Approves SCHIP Legislation Prior to Recess |
As Congress adjourned for the much anticipated August recess, two important pieces of legislation were passed respectively by the House and Senate.
On August 1, the full House of Representatives considered and approved the “Children’s Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act of 2007” (H.R. 3162). This legislation was an amended version of the bill that was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on July 27th. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives with a 225 to 204 vote with 10 Democrats voting against passage and 5 Republicans joining in the affirmative.
The approved version of the CHAMP Act prevents the 9.9 percent cut for 2008 and the expected 5 percent cut for 2009 and replaces the cuts with a 0.5 percent update for each year. Additionally, the legislation provides for elimination of the SGR to move to a new payment system in 2010 based upon six service categories. ACOFP has supported this legislation since its introduction.
Across the Capitol, the Senate voted 68-31 on August 2nd to approve legislation that would reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the substitute amendment that relies on a 61-cents-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax to offset costs for the expansion of the program.
The Senate and House will both name conferees and attempt to merge these two very different pieces of legislation into one bill. The approved Senate legislation does not include Medicare provisions; however, differences will be sorted out in the conference process. Both bills have received veto threats from the President. The 68-31 vote is enough in the Senate to override a Presidential veto, but the House legislation has not reached the 2/3 majority votes needed to override a veto.
