1.29.2005
Sen. Clinton Says Bush Plans Harm Health Care for Poor (Reuters.com)
By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Clinton accused the Bush administration on Thursday of planning an "aggressive assault" on the Medicaid health program for poor Americans that would leave the public health safety net in tatters.
"We are about to experience one of the most aggressive assaults on the structure and funding of public health programs in our history," the New York Democrat told the Families USA health advocacy group.
"These are perilous times for America's health-care infrastructure," she added. Many lawmakers in both parties expect President Bush to propose major changes in the state-federal Medicaid health program in his budget next month, possibly turning it into a block grant to the states.
Clinton said America has a moral obligation to care for the sick, poor and vulnerable. Putting the Medicaid and Medicare programs for the poor and the elderly "on a glide path toward extinction" is "not in keeping with America's ideals and values," she said.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 12:03
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Clinton accused the Bush administration on Thursday of planning an "aggressive assault" on the Medicaid health program for poor Americans that would leave the public health safety net in tatters.
"We are about to experience one of the most aggressive assaults on the structure and funding of public health programs in our history," the New York Democrat told the Families USA health advocacy group.
"These are perilous times for America's health-care infrastructure," she added. Many lawmakers in both parties expect President Bush to propose major changes in the state-federal Medicaid health program in his budget next month, possibly turning it into a block grant to the states.
Clinton said America has a moral obligation to care for the sick, poor and vulnerable. Putting the Medicaid and Medicare programs for the poor and the elderly "on a glide path toward extinction" is "not in keeping with America's ideals and values," she said.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 12:03
