Budget proposal would impact healthcare programs

The Bush administration's budget proposals for FY 2007 would reduce funding for a long list of popular healthcare programs, and eliminate others completely, the Washington Post reports. About $1 billion in state healthcare grants would be killed. This includes a program that provides defibrillators to rural areas, a center for traumatic brain injuries, and a national registry for Lou Gehrig's disease. The budget would also eliminate the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Center. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt defended the cuts. "We had to make hard choices, hard choices about very well-intentioned programs." Critics say the cuts, many of which target programs that stress preventative medicine, will drive up healthcare costs in the long run.

- see this article from The Washington Post
- see this overview of the 2007 healthcare budget proposal (.pdf)

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