STATES FORCED TO FILL HEALTH CARE VOID

[Dracos]

Under President Bush's watch, the number of uninsured Americans has increased by 6.8 million. His latest budget would cut Medicare and Medicaid spending by $102 billion and would "provide insufficient extra cash to maintain coverage for poor children currently enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program." In his State of the Union, Bush put forward a plan to replace the current tax break for employer-sponsored health insurance with a standard tax deduction for health insurance coverage. The plan would do nothing to make health care more affordable for the uninsured, and "could lead to a downward spiral in employer coverage." "It's not solving the uninsured problem and it's not solving the cost problem, so it's not really advancing what we need to have happen," said Karen Davis of the Commonwealth Fund. The states have had to pick up the slack. Last year, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine moved to provide universal coverage. This year, governors of California, Pennsylvania, and Washington state are unveiling their own proposals. The complicated patchwork of state plans across the country ultimately calls out for a federal solution.

[Quantess]

1. Unsurprising.

Federal funds are all going to Defense.
States are screwed.

[fed-up]

2. Arnold's plan is a give away to ins companies-the one he vetoed is better

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