US SCHIP extension OKed until March 2009

US President George W Bush has approved legislation to extend existing funding arrangements for the States Children's Health Insurance Program until March 2009, giving time for the debate on coverage and funding to continue in the run-up to the November 2008 presidential election.

Attempts by mostly Democrat lawmakers to extend the SCHIP to families with three times the federal poverty threshhold and impose a massive increase on tobacco taxes were resisted by Republicans, who argued that the program would become a stealth universal health care program.

On a practical level, the absence of a deal threatened the viability of existing programs, including the use of SCHIP advice centers to allow seniors to obtain information about the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.