President to Propose Shifting Health Funds to States
By Christopher Lee and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, January 22, 2007
The best solutions to the problem of nearly 47 million Americans lacking health insurance are to be found in states across the country, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said Monday.
President Bush will propose in his State of the Union address tonight, Leavitt said, that the federal government redirect some money from programs such as Medicaid and Medicare into a new grant program to help states devise and implement plans ensuring access to affordable health insurance.
Leavitt, who did not specify a funding amount, said the new Affordable Choices Initiative would help fuel efforts already underway in states such as Massachusetts and California to guarantee access to basic health coverage for everyone....
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Meanwhile, another Bush health care proposal drew a chilly reception from some Democrats. Bush will urge the creation of new tax breaks for the purchase of health insurance, especially by those who do not get coverage through work. Bush advisers acknowledged Monday that the plan initially would cost the federal government millions of dollars in lost revenue, but said that would be offset by more revenue in later years and the plan would pay for itself within the first decade....
"The president's so-called health care proposal won't help the uninsured, most of whom have limited incomes and are already in low tax brackets," (Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health) said. Later he added, "Under the guise of tax breaks, the president is pursuing a policy designed to destroy the employer-based health care system, through which 160 million people receive coverage."...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201648.html
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