Senate Passes Child Health Bill

Two weeks after its approval in the House, a bill that will provide 11 million low-income children with health insurance passed in the Senate last night. According to the Washington Post, the law will expand “The State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is aimed at families earning too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance.” The new law expands the program’s budget by $32.8 billion and, for the first time ever, contains provisions for pregnant women and legal immigrant children. Senators voted mostly along party lines to approve the measure.