Bush has threatened to veto the measures being proposed in Congress, signaling a major confrontation to come with the president.
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a federal-state partnership that covers about 6 million children, will expire Sept. 30 unless Congress and the president agree to extend it.
Leaders in both chambers are nearing agreement to spend about $35 billion more on the program over five years, significantly below that approved by the House but close to the amount that cleared the Senate this summer by a veto-proof 68-31 margin.
The new funding would expand the program to serve more children whose parents’ incomes put them well above the poverty line; Bush wants the emphasis to remain on the poor.