Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pregnant immigrants and the children of legal immigrants would get health coverage under legislation the House is considering as part of an expansion of a children's health insurance program.

The House was expected to overwhelmingly approve the measure on Wednesday. Less certain was whether the Senate would go along with all the provisions in the House bill.

Legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program was vetoed twice by President George W. Bush in 2007. This time around, supporters are confident that a deal can be struck and the bill passed shortly after President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Under the House measure, supporters say about 400,000 to 600,000 children would be added to the SCHIP and Medicaid programs if all states opted to cover children of legal immigrants and pregnant legal immigrants.

Current law requires a five-year waiting period before legal immigrants become eligible for coverage under the two programs.

Supporters say expanding coverage would mean children could get treatment for acute conditions like asthma and diabetes so they were less likely to need care in an emergency room.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., opposes lifting the five-year waiting period, saying it violates a pledge by the immigrant sponsors that the people coming to the United States will not be dependent on government assistance.

Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, said there should be an exception for children.

"That is the contract they sign on, but on the other hand, we are talking about children here. Parents sign that contract," Green said. "We should be able to make that distinction."

"Obama supports it, and supports providing health care for our children," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "It's a shared value that we have in a bipartisan way in the Congress."

"At a time of economic crisis, nothing could be more essential than ensuring that the children of hardworking families receive the quality care they deserve," in a statement.

The bill includes an additional $33 billion for SCHIP over the next 4 1/2 years. The additional money would increase enrollment from about 6.7 million to nearly 11 million, lawmakers said.

The money to pay for the expansion would come through a 61-cent increase in the tax on a pack of cigarettes. Other tobacco products would be hit with comparable increases. The increase would boost the federal excise tax on cigarettes to $1 a pack.

SCHIP was created in 1997 to provide health coverage for children in families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance.

Some Republicans say expanding the program undermines its original intent — to serve the neediest children first.

"Without strict limits on who is eligible for the program, the ability of disadvantaged children to access this program will be jeopardized," said Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.

The Senate will to take up children's health legislation later this week, beginning in the Senate Finance Committee. It has not been determined when the full Senate will consider the measure.