Copyright 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
April 28, 2000, Friday, FIVE STAR LIFT
EDITION
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A8
LENGTH: 244 words
HEADLINE:
GORE CRITICIZES BUSH'S HEALTH CARE RECORD IN TEXAS
BYLINE: The Associated Press
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH
BODY:
Vice President Al Gore, pressing his plan to bring
health insurance to all children, said Thursday that Republican
George W. Bush had done little as governor to get coverage to thousands of
uninsured Texans.
Bush has been touting a
health program of his own as he works to make inroads on
traditionally Democratic issues. "I welcome him to this debate, because he has
some pretty serious questions to answer," Gore said at Children's Hospital of
Pittsburgh.
"We need to know why under George W. Bush, the state of
Texas has become first in the nation for the number of people without any health
insurance at all."
About one in four Texans lacks health
insurance.
Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, responded with national
figures showing that the number of uninsured Americans had grown to about 44
million, including about 11 million children, despite the booming economy.
"Since he (Gore) was elected, there are 8 million more Americans without
health insurance," Fleischer said.
Gore also questioned why Bush wanted
Texas to impose stricter limits on the incomes of families participating in the
2-year-old Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides subsidized
coverage to families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.
"Why
... did Governor Bush fight to deny health coverage to more than 200,000
children who were legally eligible for it under the national law that President
Clinton and I passed?" Gore asked.
LOAD-DATE: April 28, 2000 
