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Rep. DeGette Responds to President Bush's $2.9 Trillion 2008 Budget

Date: Feb. 5, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care


Rep. DeGette Responds to President Bush's $2.9 Trillion 2008 Budget

Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette (D-CO) responded today to the President's Fiscal Year 2008 budget and the negative impact it could have on Colorado.

"President Bush's budget is just more of the same fiscal irresponsibility and misplaced priorities. The President is able to find billions of dollars for Iraq and tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent, but not for health care, education and environmental protection," said Rep. DeGette.

In particular, the proposed budget could have a negative impact on a wide range of health care programs in Colorado including the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). SCHIP is a Federal and State partnership program to expand health insurance to cover uninsured children. While the President's budget could slightly increase the federal contribution to SCHIP, it is $10 billion less than is needed to continue covering the children already enrolled in SCHIP.

"The President's budget could hit Colorado hard," said Rep. DeGette. "By under-funding the State Children's Health Insurance Program the President is putting the nearly 176,000 uninsured children in Colorado at risk. This program is critical to reducing the number of uninsured children in Colorado."

The President's budget could also cut $78 billion in Medicare and Medicaid and include billions in new premiums that will affect Colorado's 513,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Under the President's budget Colorado Medicare beneficiaries could have to pay higher premiums for coverage of prescription drugs and doctors' services, and fees paid to home health agencies, hospitals and nursing homes could be substantially reduced.

"The President's budget places a higher priority on huge tax cuts for the super rich than on urgent national health care needs. His budget could endanger hundreds of thousands of Colorado Medicare beneficiaries' access to the care they need to lead healthy, independent lives," said Rep. DeGette. "As the Vice Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce I will work in the coming days to find money for these important programs and continue to fight for a budget that reflects our nation's values and priorities."

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/co01_degette/BushFY08Budget.html

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