iSpy Health

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. House of Representatives
failed to override President George W. Bush’s veto of a measure
to expand a children’s health insurance program, producing a call
for compromise by the administration.

he 273-156 vote today fell 13 short of the two-thirds
majority required to overturn a veto. The measure would have
added $35 billion over five years to the 10-year-old State
Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as Schip.

Bush has said the legislation would have provided government
health insurance to middle-class families who can afford private
coverage. The administration today asked Democrats who control
Congress to sit down for negotiations on a version that would put
“poor children first.”