WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 — Congressional efforts to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program have run into a new roadblock. Eight Democratic senators say they cannot support any compromise that limits their states’ ability to cover parents along with children.

Democratic leaders had been considering such a compromise. But in their effort to mollify Republicans, the Democrats have begun to alienate some members of their own party on this and other issues.credit repair

The eight senators told Democratic leaders this week that they could not support any bill if their states lost money for the coverage of parents.necktie

A compromise bill must “protect state flexibility to cover parents,” the senators said in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the House majority leader, Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland. “Our states have taken the lead to provide health care to this specific population, and we do not want to inhibit their ability to continue providing this important coverage.”

The letter is signed by senators from five states that together cover more than 250,000 parents. The senators are Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.quit smoking

Republicans said they could not believe that these senators would walk away from a deal if they did not get what they wanted for the coverage of parents.

But in their letter, the Democratic senators warned Congressional leaders against “further compromise,” saying it would erode their support for the bill.

President Bush and Congressional Republicans say that covering adults, including parents, violates the purpose of the program, which is to cover children.

But Senator Bingaman said, “Parent coverage is an important part of keeping families healthy, and I don’t believe we should roll back the gains we’ve made in this area.”violin

Some state officials agree. “When you cover parents, you get more children enrolled,” said Heather Howard, policy counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey, which has 83,200 parents and 112,200 children in the program.

House Democratic leaders have been in intensive negotiations with Republicans since Oct. 18, when the House sustained Mr. Bush’s veto of a bill to expand the child health program. By revising the bill to address Republican concerns, the Democratic leaders hope to pick up enough votes to override another veto.penis enlargement

In an interview, Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she was disappointed that Democratic leaders had been “negotiating with 15 or 20 House Republicans, not the 43 members of the black caucus” who have deep concerns about some of the proposed changes.buy violin

“We have not been involved,” said Ms. Kilpatrick, Democrat of Michigan.

One of the Republicans’ chief concerns is that the bill “would provide free taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants,” in the words of Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee. The bill itself says that nothing in the legislation allows federal payment for illegal immigrants, but that is not enough for some Republicans, who want to establish tougher requirements for low-income families to prove they are citizens or legal immigrants.necktie

Hispanic Democrats are balking at the proposed “citizenship documentation” requirements. Representatives Joe Baca and Hilda L. Solis, California Democrats who are leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said that such requirements, though aimed at illegal immigrants, would hurt citizens unable to produce birth certificates or other documents.hypnosis

Cecilia Mu?oz, a vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic rights group, said: “The whole purpose of this legislation is to cover more children. Under some of the concessions being offered by Democratic leaders, we may end up covering fewer Latino and black kids.”

Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Hoyer said they were still firmly committed to covering 10 million children. “That is not subject to negotiation,” Mr. Hoyer said Wednesday.