WASHINGTON -- Just as Ohio and other states are expanding a popular health-insurance program for low-income children, federal funding for it could be caught up in a broader fight over the government's role in health care.

The House and Senate are expected to approve bills greatly expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, this week before heading home for summer break. But debate persists about how much more money to put into the program, and President Bush is threatening to veto what he sees as a costly expansion toward a government-run health system.

The potential gridlock threatens to derail Gov. Ted Strickland's plan to use a federal increase to help pay for an expansion of Ohio's program.

"I don't think the administration will be able to withstand the broad-based support that this program has," said Strickland, noting that both Republican and Democratic governors are unanimous and vocal about their support of SCHIP.

Strickland said the program enjoys widespread support because it is a cost-effective way to reduce the number of uninsured children, something opinion polls show a majority of Americans support.

"These children are pawns in a philosophical debate," he said.

The federal government has provided $25 billion for children's health insurance over the past five years.

As early as today, the House is poised to pass a $50 billion expansion over the next five years, while the Senate is expected to follow suit by the end of the week with its own plan, a $35 billion increase.

Bush wants to add only $5 billion. If nothing is done, the program is set to expire Sept. 30.

Many Republicans complain that majority Democrats are using tobacco-tax hikes and cuts to Medicare, the federal health-care program for seniors, to boost funding.

Democrats say that the White House proposal won't allow states facing shortfalls, such as Ohio, to maintain current enrollment.

The Senate bill is expected to cover an additional 3.2 million children nationwide; the House version, 5 million.

Senate Democrats say their bill finances its increase with a "modest" increase in the cigarette tax of 61 cents per pack. House Democrats propose raising the cigarette tax by 45 cents and reducing payments to Medicare managed-care plans.

It is the Medicare cut that has raised the ire of GOP opponents, who charge that hundreds of thousands of seniors would lose Medicare plans they have come to like for their lower premiums and preventive care not found in traditional plans.

Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi of Genoa Township said he is a "big fan" of covering all children in families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level -- even if that takes more money than Bush has proposed. But he said the House bill relies on shrinking tobacco-tax revenues and unfair Medicare managed-care cuts to expand the program well beyond its original intent.

"The goal of the program is a worthy goal, one that has not been met, covering poor kids up to 200 percent of poverty," Tiberi said. "What we should be doing is focusing on those kids, rather than expanding SCHIP to adults and children of middle-class parents who already have private-insurance coverage."

In Ohio, both the House and Senate proposals would safeguard coverage of the 142,929 children currently enrolled and plans to expand coverage to another 24,000 children. They also would support efforts to add to the rolls some of the 164,000 uninsured children currently eligible but not enrolled.

"It's the right way to go," said U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville, who said he was satisfied with the "trade-offs" of reducing some Medicare payments and hiking cigarette taxes in order to increase the number of children covered by insurance.

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