After multiple attempts to pass a PAYGO compliant, fully offset expansion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) last year that could not overcome a presidential veto, Democrats were set to hit the ground running at the start of the 111th Congress by passing the same SCHIP expansion that would presumably be signed by newly-elected President Obama. But it seems they have run into a bit of a problem. CongressDaily reported yesterday that:

Democrats are looking to pull back on the timing for legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program as CBO estimates a wide funding gap for a five-year bill. House Democrats want to shrink the number of years to four and a half to achieve a more palatable price tag, a senior House Democratic aide said.

So the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has expanded their estimate of how much money it will cost to give 4 million additional uninsured children health care by about $14 billion over the next five years. Despite this hiccup, both the House and Senate are expected to take action this week to revise their SCHIP expansion bill with the hopes of having a bill on President Obama's desk when he is sworn in next week.