Roll Call Opinion Pieces Address Budgetary Issues Amid Hurricane Recovery Spending, USA

Two opinion pieces in Roll Call recently addressed health care budget cuts amid the spending from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Summaries appear below.Norman Ornstein: "Operation Offset," a proposal by the Republican Study Committee to help address the recovery costs of the hurricanes, "includes the one big-ticket item that could make a substantial difference in the short term: delaying the Medicare prescription drug program for a year," Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, writes. In the proposal, conservative House Republicans "take on Medicare, although mostly by making retirees pay more," Ornstein writes, adding that "the kudos have to be diluted once one examines other offsets RSC recommends." According to Ornstein, the proposal calls for the elimination of the National Science Foundation's math and science education program, federal grants for wastewater infrastructure and reducing funds for waste disposal grants. In addition, the proposal calls for reducing funds for CDC, an "interesting idea to pursue" amid fears of avian flu and biological and biochemical attacks, Ornstein writes, adding that "CDC is our front line to help track their advance, ameliorate their impact and find vaccines to prevent their spread." He writes, "There is zero political will to take on the biggest of big-ticket items -- Social Security and Medicare" (Ornstein, Roll Call, 9/28).

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.): Medicaid is the "levee that protects against a lifetime of ill health" for Katrina evacuees and is a "lifeline for one in five residents of Louisiana and Mississippi," Kennedy writes, adding that Medicaid, state Children's Health Insurance Programs and other public programs are "now more essential than ever." He added, "[W]e should clearly be expanding Medicaid to meet the needs of hurricane survivors and low-income fellow citizens across the country," instead of enacting cuts the Bush administration proposed in the spring. According to Kennedy, hurricane evacuees should get more help from Medicaid, with "full federal payment for the costs of providing needed medical care." He concluded, "Now is the time for Congress to make an unambiguous commitment, not simply by delaying the proposed cuts in Medicaid, but by canceling them altogether" (Kennedy, Roll Call, 9/23).


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