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Obama Signs Kids' Health Insurance Bill

By KEVIN FREKING
,
AP
posted: 279 DAYS 15 HOURS AGO
comments: 735
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WASHINGTON (Feb. 5) - President Barack Obama sees expansion of government health insurance to millions of lower-income children as a first step of several to come in providing coverage for all Americans.
Ending a two-year effort by Democrats, Obama signed legislation Wednesday that will allow about 7 million children to continue coverage through the State Children's Health Insurance Program and allow an additional 4 million to sign up.
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A Presidency Begins
As President Barack Obama nears the 100-days mark in his presidency, he has a 69 percent approval rating, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Here, he arrives at Andrews Air Force Base to play golf on Sunday. Click through the gallery to see more moments from the first months of Obama's presidency.
Jason Reed, Reuters
Jason Reed, Reuters
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"The way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American," Obama said at a White House bill-signing ceremony.
The measure was similar to two bills vetoed by former President George W. Bush. It was pushed through both the House and Senate by Democrats eager to give Obama an early victory on health care.
Most lawmakers and advocacy groups in the health reform debate acknowledge that the next steps toward reform will be harder than expanding SCHIP, given the increasing federal deficit.
More ambitious changes envisioned by Obama will face entrenched interests in the health care community and Republicans who oppose expanding government-funded insurance.
"Republicans are committed to making health care more affordable, more accessible and offer more options to American families," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. "Unfortunately, the only options we've seen so far this Congress would push us to a one-size-fits all government-run system."
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Latest Obama Photos
At a press conference on Wednesday night, President Barack Obama tied health-care reform to economic recovery, and assailed critics of his plan. "This debate is not a game for these Americans, and they cannot afford to wait for reform any longer," he said.
AP
AP
And not all Democrats are on the same page with Obama. Montana Sen. Max Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, plans to put together a bill that differs from the president's goal of universal coverage.
Obama acknowledged the difficulties of reforming health care at Wednesday's bill-signing ceremony "It won't be easy; it won't happen all at once," the president said. "But this bill that I'm about to sign, that wasn't easy either."
Since August 2007, the House voted seven times to expand the children's health insurance program. Opposition from Bush helped stiffen Republican resolve and helped block passage of the measures.
During final debate Wednesday before the bill passed the House, 290-135, Republicans criticized the cost of the measure. They also criticized allowing into the program an estimated 2.4 million children who otherwise might have access to private insurance.
"This debate is about, do we want a children's health insurance program that covers every child in America with state and federal dollars regardless of their ability to pay?" said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. "Do we want to freeze out the private sector for health insurance?"
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Obama's Ascent to Power
In just eight years, Barack Obama rocketed from a failed congressional aspirant to the first African-American candidate to win the White House. Here, the president and first lady Michelle Obama walk out of St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration.
Charles Dharapak, AP
Charles Dharapak, AP
But supporters said that ensuring children had access to adequate health care was a matter of priorities. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said an estimated 4 million people have lost employer-sponsored insurance in the past year.
"Do they keep their families' health insurance or do they put food on the table at night? During this economic recession, these kinds of decisions are unfortunately becoming more common," Pallone said.
The bill is H.R. 2.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-02-04 19:48:06

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KGPD99

05:10 PMMar 05 2009

You lazy people just want the government to support you....your health care....houses...etc.....let the non taxpayers clean streets or some other government funded work to maybe be deserving of using taxpayer dollars....

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(2)

TimoteoMat

10:46 AMFeb 14 2009

SeanLean...Do you even know what the hell you are talking about? Head start was a program the worked...No child left behind failed because your President didn't fund if...I call the George Bush the Smoke and mirror President because every thing he did in office was with smoke and mirrors. I can't believe the stupidity of some Americans...The last President spent this country into the depths of hell and then have the audacity to play the blame game on the new President. Do me a favor, let's wait a year or two before we start the blame game. What is it with no nothing Republicans? They talk ca ca and can't back it up with fact. Are you being coached by Karla Rove. He couldn't tell the truth if he wanted to.

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TimoteoMat

10:28 AMFeb 14 2009

The United States has the worst heath care of ever some of the poorest 3rd world countries. We as Americans pay through the nose for health care and the we are denied coverage because some fat cat CEO won't make his $1.7 billion this year...That's right folks, the CEO of United Health Care make $1.7 billion last year, the CEO of Kaiser Permanente made $1.3 billion last year, the CEO of Etna made $800 million last year. With what these 3 ass hole made in one year, everyone in the United States could have had health care coverage. There are something that are just not meant to be for profit and that's health care and education. To all you no nothing Republicans, the next time you go the the emergency room and are charged $1000 and are there less that an hour, or driven 100 miles in an ambulance and charged $4500 and the insurance company only pays only $800 dollars of the bill...Americans are taking it in the back side dry form the insurances companies and we need to put a stop to it. ...

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NaomiRuthDavis

12:25 AMFeb 13 2009

I am thankful that we have insurance, our company pays and we pay from our income, but we still pay at the doctors and dentist and eye doctors, it seems that everything costs much more out of pocket than the insurance pays, we need someone to REALLY check into the INSURANCE companies who are making so much money. Even if our country gets insurance as a lower rate for lower income families, it will never be enough, for the Insurance NEVER pays for everything. When our daughter had to have heart surgery, we had a little in our savings account, the insurance paid some, we had to pay what we had in savings for our childrens colledges , we''l with that gone we still had to kept on paying medical bills for over 20 years. The bill is finnally paid, but my daughter needs another operation, do we just let her die because we can't afford it even with Insurance! I don't believe getting insurance to everyone is the answer, we need health care that doesn't cost every cent we have, we shouldn'...

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(1)

SeanLean

11:22 PMFeb 12 2009

When we start having "free" programs, they get VERY expensive very quickly. In fact, name ONE, just one, government program that has actually worked. War on drugs? Complete disaster: we have MORE drugs NOW than BEFORE. Project Head Start? Another failure of biblical proportions, which was quickly replaced by "No Child Left Behind." Let's see, from "Head Start" to "Not Left Behind" sounds like somebody is losing ground very fast. Also, don't forget "Model Cities," ADC, and a laundry list of other criminally negligent attempts at social experimentation at the tax payer's expense. All of them wastes of money that exceed astrological dimensions. And now, here comes Obama with the same old worn-out and disaster-causing ideas, but several orders of magnitude larger in their unimaginable and Stygian depth of irresponsibilty.

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(2)

Donedaytona

02:03 PMFeb 08 2009

We must keep "Big Government " out of our way !! The private sector is the way to go , and always has been. Free - market systems are the life blood of our economy.

AVG RATING:
(1)

LRicciardi

12:25 PMFeb 08 2009

Tax cuts ,Tax cuts for employees and employers is what we need now. Not more pork .And the recession will go away in 6 months.

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(3)

Wwal1027

07:18 PMFeb 08 2009

I feel sorry for us, as the republicans are showing their hoover mentality. They do not want to spend money on we the people. SPENDING is NEEDED yo get us going. FDR listened to the conservatives in 1937 and we went into a slump again. These conservatives are obstructionists. WHERE did this cloature , or fillibuster rule come from? When minotities rule majorities, results are questionable. WE NEED TERM LIMITS, PERIOD!

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SeanLean

09:55 PMFeb 07 2009

Prez Obimbo, the Socialist Clown of Doom, is not going to be satisfied until most Americans are living like Ralph Cramden in the old "HoneyMooners" TV show. You know, a 5th floor walk-up, non-functioning furnace, and psycho neighbors you can easily hear through the paper-thin walls. If you like the idea of working much harder for far less money with absolutely no chance for retirement, Prez Obimbo, the Socialist Clown of Doom, is your man!

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(5)

Wend18

10:07 AMFeb 06 2009

Ok, not on topic, but please people, make sure the FREE education America has provided for you shows your intelligence and that you learned something in the 12 years of school you have been blessed with. You're is the contraction for the words You and Are like you're not able to spell. Your is just the word your to show ownership. There is the word meaning a place---it even has the word here in it as a little reminder. Their is the word that means ownership like their spelling sucks. They're is the contraction for they are....they're an idiot for not using their (haha see how it works!) education. Sorry, but as an English teacher, it bugs me that people can't learn how to use these 5 words correctly. I'm sure no one ever misuses a cuss word.

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President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a bill extending health coverage to 4 million uninsured children, a move he called a first step toward fulfilling a campaign pledge to provide insurance for all Americans. It was a victory for Obama a day after his nominee to shepherd his broad health care agenda stepped aside amid tax problems.