By CQ Staff
May 24, 2007 – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Thursday his panel is aiming for a June 7 markup of legislation that would reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
"It will have 'payfors,' " Baucus said, but declined to elaborate on areas where he is looking for financing. Democrats have said that reducing payments to Medicare Advantage plans, which are private plans offering coverage within Medicare, are a likely target.
But other health care providers, such as hospitals, also may see their Medicare reimbursements reduced to finance a SCHIP expansion. Some lawmakers as well as health, business and consumer groups also have advocated an increase in the federal tobacco tax to finance the expansion.
Baucus, who has made SCHIP reauthorization the panel's top policy priority, has said that he supports spending an additional $50 billion on the program, which expires Sept. 30 and is up for reauthorization this year.
The fiscal 2008 budget resolution (S Con Res 21) includes a "deficit neutral" reserve fund that allows for up to $50 billion in new spending for SCHIP as long as the spending is fully offset.