A debate winding to a close in Washington could undermine ambitious health care proposals by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats in the Legislature that would provide coverage to every uninsured child in California.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, a bipartisan compromise created a decade ago from the embers of the Clinton universal health care plan, expires on Sept. 30.

As federal lawmakers prepare to leave this week for a monthlong summer recess, the U.S. Senate and House are grappling with separate bills that would dramatically increase SCHIP funding to states -- the Senate by $35 billion over five years, the House by $50 billion -- by raising tobacco taxes...

But President Bush has threatened to veto both congressional bills and instead has proposed a $5 billion increase in funding over five years.

A recent study by a research team led by Peter Harbage of the New America Foundation found California alone would need an additional $4.2 billion during that period to cover eligible children...

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