Congress overwhelmingly approved the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization at the end of September, with $35 billion in new funding that would provide health care coverage for about four million more uninsured children. As expected, President Bush vetoed the reauthorization, and the House is scheduled to hold what promises to be a close override vote on Oct. 18. SCHIP was started in 1997, and it provides health care primarily for uninsured children in families whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid. Under this bill, about 70 percent of families who would gain SCHIP coverage earn less than twice the poverty level, which is $40,000 for a family of four, according to the Urban Institute. Both the Senate and the House approved the bill by wide margins. The House voted 265-159 to pass the bill President Bush vetoed. All but eight Democrats, and 45 Republicans, voted for it, while 11 members did not vote at all. This total is short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the president's veto. The Senate supported the SCHIP reauthorization by a veto-proof majority, 67-29. Despite Congress's votes and overwhelming public support for the bill, Bush vetoed SCHIP reauthorization on Oct. 3. This opposition to children's health care programs is not a new policy for the president. The Bush administration also recently issued a rule severely restricting which states can give SCHIP coverage. Several states have sued the administration over the rule, and the bill passed by the House and Senate would replace it with more inclusive guidelines (See a related Watcher article on the state lawsuits). Only a few votes in the House will make the difference between sustaining the president's veto or overturning it and taking the first step toward forcing the bill into law. Since a two-thirds majority of voting members is required to overturn a veto, approximately 15 to 25 House members will have to switch their votes. A large coalition of advocacy groups and labor unions has launched a campaign to pressure members of the House to overturn the president's veto and enact the SCHIP bill. Democratic leaders in the House have announced the vote will be held on Oct. 18. Some House members have already pledged to change their votes. Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), who voted against it, has said he will now support it, and Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), who did not vote, said he would support the bill. If the House is able to override the veto, it is likely the Senate will follow suit as the initial vote passed the bill by a margin large enough to override the veto. In an encouraging sign, Bush has backed down from his position that he would veto bills that provided more funding than he requested in his budget, including the SCHIP bill. During his weekly Saturday radio address, Bush said he would consider accepting more funding but would likely need Congress to compromise as well. Democratic leaders have said repeatedly they will not reduce the $35 billion funding increase currently in the bill.