GOP Rx For Votes
Who says George W. Bush doesn't discuss health care? Once he gets started, just try stopping him!
For the second day in a row, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee unveiled a plan to expand health care for poor Americans. On Wednesday, the Texas governor said he wants to spend $3.6 billion over five years to build another 1,200 community health centers across the country.
Right now, says the Bush campaign, about 3,000 of these centers exist nationwide, providing free vaccines, preventive care, counseling and disease screening. Bush called the centers "America's health care safety net," but added "the most difficult places to build a quality health facility are the very areas where the need is greatest, and where patients have the least ability to pay."
Bush said the centers save money in the long run, because they eliminate the need for expensive emergency room visits and hospital stays. "But, in the end, what counts is not just saving money," said the governor soberly. "What counts is saving lives and recognizing that without a health center nearby, many Americans might never receive even basic health care."
And that's not all. Bush wants to take a look at the National Health Service Corps and retool it so that its doctors will be sent to the neediest areas. He also called for a "Healthy Communities Innovation Fund", which would cost $500 million over five years that would help communities develop health programs or pilot studies.
Bush's backdrop on Wednesday was the Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Center in St. Louis. It's the kind of place the governor wants to see more of. Bush asked questions and listened humbly as doctors, nurses and workers somewhat awkwardly explained their jobs to him.
The day before, Bush made his maiden voyage on health care with a speech outlining his "new prosperity agenda." Among other things, he offered a federal Family Health Credit of up to $2,000 a year to pay for health insurance.
Health care, education, cleaning up pollution at abandoned industrial sites - these themes are all meant remind voters of the compassionate conservative - emphasis on the compassionate - who towered over Gore in national polls months ago. That image was tarnished by Bush's primary campaign when he needed support from the Republican Party's right wing, but Bush himself isn't an extreme right winger. And the governor knows he can't beat Gore - who has almost closed the gap in the polls - unless he reclaims the more moderate image with which he began his candidacy.
Expect more of the same from the Bush campaign. "In the coming days," ran a campaign press release, "Governor Bush will continue to make bold proposals to help expand opportunities for low-income Americans." Some proposals will undoubtedly deal, again, with health care. Polls rate it a top concern for Americans - and its omission from Bush's agenda was fodder for critics. Not that theivoices have all been stilled by his new effort.
Vice President Al Gore, Bush's rival, devoted much of his Wednesday speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors to scold the governor for tardiness on health care and for bad ideas.
"Now he's claiming to be a champion on health care," said Gore, who outlined his plans on the issue months ago and then defended them vigorously during testy disputes with Bill Bradley during the primaries.
Gore accused Bush of "political malpractice," as he urged the newspaper editors to scrutinize Bush's proposals. As if that were not enough, Gore then proceeded to scrutinize those ideas himself. The vice president said that Bush's $2,000 health credit would cover only one-third of the cost of most insurance policies and would provide coverage for only a tenth of the Americans who don't have it now.
And Gore deplored Bush's health care record in Texas. The vice president drew particular attention to children who lack health insurance.
"Texas has made it as hard as it can possibly be" for children to get coverage, he said. In a way meant only to chide an opponent for sluggishness or silence, Gore added he welcomed Bush to the health care debate and "and I hope he will start by trying to enroll some of the tens of thousands of uninsured children in the state of Texas."
The Bush folks are a bit defensive about that, particularly after a New York Times article on Tuesday which drew a bleak picture of health care in Texas. The campaign's indignant response highlighted the governor's accomplishments on health care, although some of those accomplishments - such as a patient's bill or rights - were opposed by Bush.