Trent Lott: “the Baucus bill we have before us is a $35 billion increase over the current $25 billion, a $60 billion bill. Our Kids…”

“the Baucus bill we have before us is a $35 billion increase over the current $25 billion, a $60 billion bill. Our Kids First alternative amendment targets children. SCHIP does not have an A in it. We should not move steadily toward more and more higher income children and adults being included in the program. This one is targeted to children. The cost is $9 billion above the $25 billion in the baseline. It will cover an additional 1.3 million children over the next 5 years. This 40-percent increase would maintain children currently enrolled and insure 2.2 million more children by 2017 than is in the underlying Baucus bill. It also includes the small business health plans, which I believe would lead to the coverage of an additional 10 or 20 million people who work for small businesses that now cannot get coverage. There is no tax increase in this provision. It is paid for by equalizing the State match for Medicaid administrative expenses at 50 percent.”