More than $1 million was recovered on behalf of consumers by the Connecticut Insurance Department’s Consumer Affairs Division during the second quarter, according to Insurance Commissioner Thomas R. Sullivan.

The bulk of consumer complaints are associated with accident and health insurance products, according to the department. Consequently, $440,591.57, or almost 43 percent of all dollars recovered from the industry, can be attributed to these product lines.

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All types of alcohol — wine, beer or liquor — add equally to the risk of developing breast cancer in women, American researchers said Thursday.

“This is a hugely underestimated risk factor,” said Dr. Patrick Maisonneuve, head of epidemiology at the European Institute of Oncology in Italy, who was not connected to the study.

“Women drinking wine because they think it is healthier than beer are wrong,” he said. “It’s about the amount of alcohol consumed, not the type.”

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The Senate, with an overwhelming bipartisan vote yesterday, sent President Bush a $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, setting up the biggest domestic policy clash of his presidency and launching a fight that will reverberate into the 2008 elections.

Bush has vowed to veto the measure, but he has faced strong criticism from many fellow Republicans reluctant to turn away from a popular measure that would renew and expand an effective program aimed at low-income children. Democratic leaders, while still as many as two dozen votes short in the House, are campaigning hard for the first veto override of Bush’s presidency.

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The Senate voted to limit debate Thursday on legislation to expand children’s health insurance, paving the way for a final vote to clear the bill and send it to President Bush.

The 69-30 vote to limit debate on a motion to concur in amendments by the House would be sufficient, if replicated on final passage, to override a threatened Bush veto.

But the 265-159 House vote Sept. 25 was not. A two-thirds vote of those present and voting is required in each chamber, and supporters acknowledge that the measure does not currently have enough Republican support in the House for an override.

Under the bill (HR 976), the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, would be expanded by $35 billion over the next five years, to $60 billion. The expansion would be financed by tobacco tax increases, including a 61-cent rise in the cigarette tax, to $1 per pack.

SCHIP covers about 6 million children who are low-income but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. The expansion, a top priority of congressional Democrats, would result in about 5.8 million additional children enrolling in SCHIP and Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office, with two-thirds of them otherwise uninsured.

Congress’ proposal to expand a child health care program gives states the financial incentive to expand eligibility for coverage to families of four earning about $62,000 a year.That’s a figure that seldom emerges in the claims and counterclaims being tossed about.

The Bush administration and many Republicans oppose the proposal as a big step toward socialized medicine. They much prefer to cite $83,000 — the ceiling that would apply to families of four only in New York state, and then only if the Health and Human Services Department approves a requested amendment to the state’s current SCHIP plan.

Democrats, 45 Republicans in the House, many Senate GOP colleagues and other supporters of the expansion prefer to rattle off the figure $40,000. They say that about 70 percent to 80 percent of enrollees in the program would be children in families with incomes less that twice the poverty level. The poverty level is defined by the Census Bureau as $20,650 for a family of four.

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Two New England research institutions have won a chunk of an $11 million grant to fund research on women’s health for the National Institutes of Health.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Yale University were selected by the NIH to conduct interdisciplinary research on gender factors that may impact reproductive health, metabolic disorders and osteoporosis, according to the NIH. A total of 11 institutions nationwide won grants under the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health program.

In a separate announcement, the NIH reports it has awarded a Boston University researcher with a slice of a $7 million grant to encourage scientists to pursue careers in women’s health research. Karen Freund, a professor of medicine at Boston University Medical School, was one of 15 U.S. researchers to receive the honor.

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The AFL-CIO used the release of federal data showing a drop in the number of Americans who get employer-sponsored health care to launch a nationwide campaign to make universal health insurance the centerpiece of the 2008 presidential election.