Bush said: “My second proposal is to help the States that are coming up with innovative ways to cover the uninsured. States that make basic private health insurance available to all their citizens should receive Federal funds to help them provide this coverage to the poor and the sick. I have asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to work with Congress to take existing Federal funds and use them to create ‘Affordable Choices’ grants.”
FACT — BUSH PLAN WILL CUT $30 BILLION FROM PUBLIC HOSPITALS: Bush’s ‘Affordable Choice’ grants will not involve any new federal money. It will instead “redirect some of the $30 billion the government spends annually to care for people without health insurance who show up at hospitals and emergency rooms. There are about 47 million Americans without health insurance.” [USA Today, , 1/23/07; American Progress, 1/23/07]