ALBANY - New York is joining several other states in suing the Bush administration over restrictions on health insurance coverage for children.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced Thursday that New York has joined Illinois, Maryland and Washington in a lawsuit against the federal Department of Health and Human Services to challenge new rules governing the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

The states are seeking an injunction against new federal restrictions on eligibility and against a de facto limit on covering children from middle-income families who lack health insurance.

Arizona, California, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New Mexico are also submitting friend of the court briefs in support of the action. New Jersey has filed a similar lawsuit.

The new rules forbid states from providing health care unless the child has been without coverage for a year. The program covers 6.6 million children from modest-income families that aren't poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.

Congress this week passed a bill that would add $35 billion to the SCHIP over five years to expand health coverage for children in families that cannot afford to buy private health insurance. A steep increase in cigarette taxes would pay for it.

President Bush vetoed the bill Wednesday.

Bush argued the bill was too costly and took the program far beyond its original intent of helping the poor and would entice people with private insurance to switch to government coverage. He has proposed a $5 billion increase in funding.

Republican leaders expressed confidence Wednesday that they have enough votes to prevent Democrats from overriding the veto. A two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress is required to override a veto.

The federal program was set to expire but has been temporarily continued until Congress and the administration can agree on funding.