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WASHINGTON — Federal aid for the State Children's Health Insurance Program in New Mexico would more than double, from $52 million to $116.5 million, under the bill the Senate is expected to send to President Bush today.

The number of children covered would rise from about 19,000 to about 30,000, officials at the state Medical Assistance Division estimate. Eligibility varies by family size and income, but for a family of three the income range would be $22,839 to $40,356 a year, division officials said.

But if Bush vetoes the bill, as he has threatened, it would mean uncertainty for New Mexico's budget and would complicate Gov. Bill Richardson's drive for universal health coverage, said Carolyn Ingram, director of the Medical Assistance Division.

"For him (Bush) to come and pull the rug out and leave the states holding the bag is really unfortunate," Ingram said.

The program is scheduled to expire Monday, but Congress is extending the current program in a stopgap spending bill expected to clear Congress this week.

But that would not resolve the vast gap between Bush's proposal to spend $30 billion on SCHIP over the next five years and the bill before Congress to spend $60 billion.

Ingram said the program is vital to the states and that increased spending is needed to cover more children.

"It fits really nicely in the governor's move toward universal health coverage. Everybody will have access, either through their employer or public insurance they can buy into," Ingram said.

In New Mexico, SCHIP funds are used as part of New Mexikids. The program was intended to cover children in families whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid, the principal health care program for the poor.

But New Mexico was already covering some of those children when SCHIP came along 10 years ago, so the state was granted a waiver to use SCHIP funds to cover parents and some single adults.

The bill before Congress limits the use of those waivers but also would allow New Mexico to use SCHIP funds to cover some children now under Medicaid. Ingram said the state would have time to make adjustments.

The new bill also adds some benefits, including dental insurance, which is a particular push of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat.

New Mexikids now pays for two trips to the dentist a year and treatments related to those benefits. Ingram said it's important to see dentists early in life to prevent more serious illnesses later.

Ingram said division officials also appreciated the efforts of Rep. Heather Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, to get the bill through the House on Tuesday. She rallied moderate GOP support for the compromise bill after voting against an earlier version because it cut rates for Medicare HMO plans.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which had been publicly pressing Wilson to vote for the bill, shifted its attention to Rep. Steve Pearce, a Hobbs Republican, after she did.

Jennifer Crider, spokeswoman for the DCCC, said Pearce "chose politics over children's health by voting to support President Bush's protection of tobacco companies." She was referring to the increase in cigarette taxes to pay for the SCHIP increase, 61 cents a pack.

Democrats have growing hopes to challenge Pearce next year. Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley recently met here with DCCC officials and Democratic interest groups to persuade them the race is winnable.

Pearce said he voted against the SCHIP bill because it is "the single largest step toward socialized medicine since HillaryCare." He was referring to President Clinton's ill-fated health insurance proposal.

The bill would raise the definition of low-income people to include some households making as much as $80,000 a year, he said.

Ingram said the only way a family in New Mexico could qualify for SCHIP with that much income is if they had eight children.