President Bush has threatened to veto Congress' State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which some say is putting health insurance coverage for Long Island's neediest youth at risk.

Federal lawmakers passed a bill that would set aside more money for SCHIP, which is designed for children of low-income workers. If signed into law, the legislation would raise the income eligibility for a Long Island family of four to about $82,000, opening up the program to more families, the Nassau-Suffolk Health and Welfare Council says.

"What that means is we would have universal health coverage on Long Island. So every child, the roughly 70,000 children or so on Long Island that are uninsured would have access to adequate health insurance coverage," says Gwen O'Shea of the Nassau-Suffolk Health and Welfare Council.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Hempstead) says a presidential veto on the SCHIP bill would be immoral.

"If this country can't give health insurance to the children that need it the most, I really don't know where we are anymore," she says.

Bush says the bill in its current incarnation is too costly, shifts too much insurance burden on the government, and goes beyond the program's original intent. If he sticks to his professed decision, the bill would return to Congress for a chance to override the veto. The Senate has enough votes to do so, while the House does not have enough support for the time being.