U.S. Senate backs extension of child health bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would extend through March 2009 the State Children's Health Insurance Program that currently covers about 6.6 million poor children.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously and the House of Representatives plans to take it up before finishing work for the year later this week.

The extension of the program ends for now an intense battle with President George W. Bush, who has twice vetoed bills that would extend and expand the children's health program, saying it would cost too much money and shift children from the private marketplace to government-run programs.

The bill also would stop a scheduled 10 percent pay cut for Medicare doctors for six months and provide a 0.5 percent increase instead. Lawmakers have struggled for several years to replace what critics say is a flawed Medicare payment policy but have instead done a series of short-term fixes like this one.

The health legislation costs about $6 billion, but was paid for by savings in other health programs.

Many Democrats had wanted a shorter-term extension of the children's health program to keep pressing Republicans on children's health in the months leading up to next November's presidential and congressional elections.

But Republicans insisted on a longer solution through March 2009, although as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said, "We can still bring it up and try to do (children's health) legislation before that."

(Reporting by Joanne Kenen; Editing by Eric Beech)