GOP Plan For Uninsured Children, But Not Seniors

House Republicans in the USA have come up with a $16 billion plan toextend health coverage to almost half the country's uninsured children, but cannot set aside $1.5 billion to help poor senior citizens pay health insurance premiums over the next five years, as promised.

The New York Times reports that their draft bill gives states $2.6 billion to expand coverage for these children through broad grants to individual states, allowing them to pay doctors and children's hospitals through private insurance or by expanding Medicare to more children. Other highlights of the proposal, expected to be approved soon by the House Commerce Committee, include:

- giving the states $2.6 billion annually in grants to develop programs to expand health coverage to poor children; states could use the money in a variety of ways and could include children in families with incomes up to 150% of the poverty line;