Children's Heath Insurance Bill Passes Senate (10/1/07)

By a 67-29 vote, the Senate passed an expansion of the children's health insurance program on Friday, and sent the bill to the White House and a promised veto by President Bush. A veto would trigger a showdown with Congress, which can override the Bush veto with a two thirds vote.

The bill would expand the children's health insurance program to cover an additional four million children. That would bring the total of children enrolled in the program to over 10 million. The overwhelming majority of those on the rolls are in low-income families. The move would dramatically reduce the number of uninsured American children, which now stands at 9 million.

The bi-partisan backed program was born in 1997 from collaboration between Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah.