Pediatricians hit Bush on kids' health spending

The administration says advances in children's health have occurred on the president's watch.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. Oct. 18, 2004.

Washington -- A group of 36 prominent pediatricians has launched a newspaper ad campaign in battleground states attacking President Bush for budget cuts to public health insurance programs for children.

"The administration needs to be accountable for the impact of their policies at the state level, as well as at the federal level," said Steven Berman, MD, a Denver pediatrician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Many states have faced budget shortfalls in recent years, hurting the ability to fund their portion of federal-state programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Some $1.1 billion in SCHIP funds recently expired, returning to the U.S. Treasury. The administration has promised to redistribute more than $660 million in remaining funds to states projected to run through their allotments before year's end.

That temporary measure falls short of legislation that would provide adequate SCHIP funding through 2007, said Joel Alpert, MD, a Boston pediatrician and another past president of the AAP. Although lawmakers have failed to act on the bill, its passage is possible if Congress and the Bush administration can iron out differences over how that money should be spent, experts said.