The Bush administration is fighting attempts to increase funding for children's health insurance, and it won't even fight fairly.

Before leaving for its August recess, both houses of Congress voted for more money for the popular and successful Children's Health Insurance Program. The program uses state and federal money to provide free or low-cost coverage for Americans who aren't poor enough for Medicaid but who nonetheless cannot afford private health insurance. President Bush threatened to veto the Senate version, which promised an additional $35 billion over five years, and his administration also opposes the House measure, which would bring another $50 billion.

But the administration couldn't even wait for Congress to return to Washington yesterday to take up the argument. On Aug. 17, with Congress on recess and the president on vacation at his Texas ranch, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a sucker punch of a directive that will hurt children.

The letter sent to state health officials spelled out what states must do if they want to offer CHIP benefits to families that earn more than 250 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $51,625 for a family of four. (Pennsylvania is among 18 states that already does.) The state would have to impose a 12-month waiting period with no exceptions for those enrolling. The waiting period for most Pennsylvania families now is six months, and there's no waiting for children under 2.

In addition, before it could offer coverage to higher-income families, Pennsylvania would have to enroll 95 percent of the low-income families. Now, 93 percent of children below 200 percent of poverty are in CHIP or Medicaid, and no state has managed to hit the 95 percent target.

The federal cutoff would affect 1,929 of the state's children as of August, according to Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, which says the numbers are increasing each month.

Congress must stand up against this bullying from the Bush administration. CHIP expires at the end of the month. Members should reauthorize it at meaningful levels so it can continue to grow, and they must do so in sufficient numbers to quiet the threat of a veto. Legislation also can be crafted to get around the new backdoor rules that take away the flexibility that has enabled states to tailor CHIP to fit their needs.

Otherwise, there will be one more black eye on how this nation takes care of its health.