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Background This vote will be on a House-Senate agreement to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). By providing $35 billion over 5 years, it will continue coverage for the approximately 6 million children in the program (which include eligible children with disabilities) and add an additional 4 million children. The agreement also includes a 6-month moratorium on proposed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulations on Medicaid's rehabilitation option and school based services for Medicaid eligible children with disabilities. A moratorium was a high priority of the disability community. The House of Representatives voted on the agreement, H.R. 976, yesterday. It passed by a bipartisan vote of 265-159. The thousands of calls made to Members' offices yesterday were truly effective in increasing the number of Members who voted for the bill. (How did your Representative vote? Click here to find out. If your Representative voted for it, you may wish to call his/her office to say thank you.) Now it is the Senate's turn to pass this critical bill that President Bush has threatened to veto. A strong bipartisan vote in the Senate will show that the President's veto can be overridden. Take Action Please call your Senators! The Senate vote on the SCHIP agreement is only 2 days away. Call toll-free: 1-800-828-0498. You will be connected to the Capitol Switchboard - ask for your Senators' offices. (If you need help getting your Senators' names, enter your zip code at http://capwiz.com/thearc/dbq/officials/). Call Message "Please vote for the State Children's Health Insurance Program bill! I'm a constituent who thinks covering 4 million more uninsured children is a very important vote!"
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