The U.S. House failed to muster enough votes to override the President’s veto of an expansion of the children’s health insurance program. Iowa Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge says the stalled federal expansion of the program will have some impact on the number of Iowa children covered under the state’s Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa program known as "HAWK".
Judge says the program is funded for the next 18 months. "We think we can cover 7,500 more kids with the program expanded the way it is," Judge says, "but if we’re going to go any further, we’re going to have to have federal expansion." Just under 22,000 Iowa children were enrolled in the HAWK program in 2007. Governor Chet Culver will launch a marketing campaign today to try and sign up more eligible Iowa children in the state program.