Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Politics
Governors plead for health funding
Associated Press
Published February 27, 2007
WASHINGTON - President Bush encouraged governors Monday to support his call for changing the tax code to help more people buy private health care insurance, but he did not address their pleas to increase funding for a health care program that insures millions of children of the working poor. Still, governors said they heard words of at least compromise. At stake is coverage for 6-million people, overwhelmingly children. All governors rely on the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Bush, welcoming the governors, did not offer comments about the children's program. But Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt "made it clear that the administration will work with Congress as far as" short-term shortfalls, said North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, a Republican. Governors say 14 states could run out of cash before October. In Georgia, it could happen as soon as March. The governors want: - Enough money to keep the program afloat through October, estimated at $745-million. - Changes to Bush's budget. Analysts say his spending plan would shortchange the health program even if the number of people in it did not grow. The shortfall is put at $10-billion to $15-billion over five years.
[Last modified February 27, 2007, 05:41:02]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
