As congressional committees reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, policymakers will consider a range of issues, including program eligibility, enrollment and outreach, program benefits, and financing. Since the beginning of the congressional session, lawmakers have introduced several bills that modify elements of this program to cover low-income uninsured children.
The Center for American Progress’s side-by-side analysis compares key elements of these bills: the Children’s Health First Act (H.R. 1535/S. 895) introduced by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (S. 1224) sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and the Healthy Kids Act of 2007 (H.R. 2147/S. 1364) introduced by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) in the House, and by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) in the Senate.