WASHINGTON — The House passed a bill on Friday that would provide five years of funds for the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, over vehement objections from Democrats who opposed the way it would be financed.
The vote, 242 to 174, came a month after funds for the program expired.
The Senate plans major surgery on the legislation to avoid the partisan strife that split the House. But some states may have no choice but to freeze enrollment or start to shut down the program before Congress clears legislation to renew funding. No new funds have been available since Oct. 1.
In the House, 15 Democrats joined 227 Republicans in voting for the measure on Friday. Only three Republicans voted against it.
The bill would provide money for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and clinics known as community health centers, which care for low- and moderate-income people around the country. Both programs have enthusiastic support across the political spectrum.
But lawmakers clashed over how to pay for them. To offset the cost, the House bill would increase premiums for Medicare beneficiaries with income of more than $500,000 a year, remove some lottery winners from the Medicaid rolls, and cut $6.35 billion over 10 years from a fund established by the Affordable Care Act to pay for public health initiatives such as preventing diabetes, heart disease, cancer and opioid abuse.
