In a memorandum issued on Thursday, /*Obama*/ completely lifted the restrictions, which many governors and Democratic lawmakers said were unrealistic and nearly impossible to meet.
"These requirements have limited coverage under several state plans that otherwise would have covered additional, uninsured children," Obama wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services. "As a result, tens of thousand of children have been denied health care coverage."
He said that if he had not lifted the restrictions, "many more children will be denied coverage."
Under the restrictions, children had to be uninsured for a year before they could enroll. Also, at least 95 percent of poor children eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP had to be already in those programs before states could begin covering higher-income children.
Ending a two-year effort by Democrats, Obama signed legislation Wednesday that will allow about 7 million children to continue coverage through SCHIP and allow an additional 4 million to sign up. The president sees expansion of government health insurance to millions of lower-income children as a first step of several to come in providing coverage for all Americans.
"The way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American," Obama said Wednesday at a White House bill-signing ceremony.
The measure was similar to two bills vetoed by former President George W. Bush. It was pushed through both the House and Senate by Democrats eager to give Obama an early victory on health care.
Most lawmakers and advocacy groups in the health reform debate acknowledge that the next steps toward reform will be harder than expanding SCHIP, given the increasing federal deficit.
More ambitious changes envisioned by Obama will face entrenched interests in the health care community and Republicans who oppose expanding government-funded insurance.
"Republicans are committed to making health care more affordable, more accessible and offer more options to American families," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. "Unfortunately, the only options we've seen so far this Congress would push us to a one-size-fits all government-run system."
And not all Democrats are on the same page with Obama. Montana Sen. Max Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, plans to put together a bill that has the same goal as the president but takes a different approach to universal coverage.
Obama acknowledged the difficulties of reforming health care at Wednesday's bill-signing ceremony "It won't be easy; it won't happen all at once," the president said. "But this bill that I'm about to sign, that wasn't easy either."
Since August 2007, the House voted seven times to expand the children's health insurance program. Opposition from Bush helped stiffen Republican resolve and helped block passage of the measures.
The House passed the bill, 290-135.
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