NurseWeek

Lieberman attacks Bush in his backyard

By Keith W. Murrow
Health24News
September 9, 2000


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Washington (H24N). Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut made a campaign appearance in Republican presidential candidate Gov. George W. Bush’s home state of Texas and leveled accusations of neglect against the governor for not providing health insurance to more children in the state.

Lieberman told the small crowd at the Magnolia Multi-Service Center, where neighborhood low-income residents go to obtain health care services, that Bush "failed" to guarantee access to health insurance for all children.

"I came here to Houston today to have the chance to meet face-to-face with Texas families who have had difficulty with this state’s health care system," said Lieberman. "I was disappointed to learn that Governor Bush has not made children’s health a priority in his home state."

The two-term senator, who was tapped as running mate by Democratic presidential candidate and current Vice President Al Gore in early August, accused Bush of intentionally blocking legislation that would have enrolled 200,000 children into the state’s Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Lieberman noted that Texas currently ranks 49^th out 50 in the percentage of children without health insurance and is one of only eight states where the percentage of children uninsured has risen.

Bush campaign spokesman Dan Bartlett quickly refuted Lieberman’s charges. He characterized the appearance as a distraction in order to deflect attention from the current administration’s problems with rising numbers among the uninsured.

"Instead of attacking the progress Governor Bush has made in providing health care to children in Texas, Senator Lieberman should explain why there are 2.4 million more uninsured children under the Clinton-Gore administration," Bartlett said. "If Al Gore and Joe Lieberman want to talk about insuring children, then they should explain why they underfunded the Children’s Health Insurance Program by over $55 billion."

Bartlett pointed to Bush’s recent signing of legislation that will provide health insurance for more than 423,000 children over the next two years, a federal program Gore actually promotes.

If elected, Gore and Lieberman propose expanding the CHIP program to cover children living in families with incomes up to 250 percent of the poverty level – about $41,000 annual income for a family of four. They also proposed implementing universal health coverage by 2005.

Bush proposes the addition of a $2,000 tax credit for low-income families for the purchase of their own insurance policies. The governor also proposes removing federal regulations that "restrict" states from enrolling low-income children in the CHIP program.