Saturday, January 26, 2008

Bu$hCo DHHS: Politicizing kids’ health

Unbelievable.

On January 14, less than two weeks ago, Louisiana’s Democratic governor Kathleen Blanco left office as Republican Bobby Jindal was sworn in.

And guess what! An expansion of Louisiana’s children’s health insurance program the Feds resisted when Governor Blanco proposed it, is now suddenly A-OK!

State health Secretary Alan Levine said he’s optimistic that the state will win federal approval to expand its health insurance program for children after a Friday meeting in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials had balked at a similar proposal by former Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

Now those same officials appear receptive and gave the state some constructive ideas for making the plan approvable, Levine said in a telephone interview Friday.

Under the proposed expansion, children who live in homes with a family income of up to two-and-a-half times the federal poverty level (about $50,000 for a family of four) would receive coverage. The present state program covers children in homes with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level (about $40,000 for a family of four).

Apparently, when it comes to the health of children in a state with a Democratic governor,

Federal officials have been concerned about the impact an expansion would have on the federal budget shortfall as well as the potential of the program moving children from private to government insurance.


But it seems now, budget shortfalls and the scary, scary threat of Socialized Medicine are IOKIYAR (or more precisely, It's Okay If Your State Has A Republican Governor, or IOIYSHRG. Maybe that’s because Republicans are more in tune with the notion that government programs shouldn’t help people unless the corporatocracy has a chance to cash in:

Levine said federal officials seemed to want the state to use some health care dollars to purchase private insurance.

Oh, and this is scary. Be very, very afraid when a Bu$hCo hack wants to help you "re-tool" something:

Levine said Leavitt also offered to help the state in the "retooling, remodeling of our health care system."
Governor Blanco apparently got the same offer from Leavitt, but

Blanco rejected the plan Leavitt promoted as one that would leave too many uninsured Louisianans without health care coverage.

Leavitt wants more private sector involvement in the delivery of health care to the poor and uninsured. He advocates a move away from the charity-hospital based system.

And, no doubt, a move toward funneling more federal taxpayer money to the Bu$hCo corporate cronies in the health "care" biz.

It would take a whole new diary to adequately catalog the extent to which greedy partisan hacks have come to infect every corner of our Federal government under the Bush Administration, so why would you really expect the Department of Health and Human Services to be immune? Because the words "health" and "human" are in the name??

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