The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Editorial, 2/5/9
Congress passed and President Obama on Wednesday signed a reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance coverage for 11 million disadvantaged children nationwide and about 85,000 children in Mississippi.
An additional 119,000 children are eligible for coverage in Mississippi, and the newly enacted plan would extend coverage to about 55,000 of those not covered.
Final passage came with a lopsided, bipartisan 290-135 vote in the U.S. House, which followed earlier Senate passage.
In Mississippi’s U.S. House delegation, Democrats Travis Childers, Bennie Thompson and Gene Taylor voted for the plan, while Republican Greg Harper voted against the plan, funded by a cigarette tax increase.
Magnolia Tribune
