Women and Children First

Yesterday the NYT announced that the Bush administration plans to cut funding for uninsured children, and the WaPo let us know that the FDA intends to appropriate 30% of the money dedicated to the Office of Women's Health for general use instead. (The Office of Women's Health, by the way, also funds research into children's health, so it's a double whammy.)

But don't worry, the Bush administration has an answer for everything:

children do not have a legal entitlement to benefits.

Michael O. Leavitt, secretary of health and human services, said he would work with Congress to find “a short-term solution” for states exhausting their allotments this year. He said states could avoid shortfalls by managing their programs better.

In his experience as governor of Utah, Mr. Leavitt said, “when we were out of an allotment, we just discontinued enrolling people until we had room.” Likewise, he said, states could cover more people if they provided less comprehensive
benefits.

Similarly, since the FDA has already spent 70% of the $4 million for the Office of Women's Health (and we're only two months into the year!),

the office must effectively halt further operations for the rest of the year.

The Democrats intend to fight the funding cuts for uninsured kids, and the FDA is sending out signals that they "INTENDED" [sic] to spend all $4 mil on the OWH, so there's a possibility that kids (at least) will be covered--though I'm not inclined to trust what the FDA "intended" to do, what with even the best laid plans (not to speak of the FDA's) ganging aft agley and all.

So, everyone: don't get sick for the rest of the year, 'kay?


Update: Holy crap, this is depressing: a WaPo story about a 10 year old who died because he didn't have dental insurance.