Several newspaper editorials and a radio commentary recently addressed the fiscal year 2006 budget reconciliation bill (S 1932) and defense appropriations bill. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 51-50 to approve the budget reconciliation bill. Vice President Dick Cheney returned from a trip in the Middle East to cast the final vote to break a 50-50 tie (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 12/21). Summaries of the editorials and commentary appear below.

Editorials
Bangor Daily News: The budget reconciliation bill "is a failure in numerous ways, and Maine's senators, Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R), have properly come out against it," a Daily News editorial states. The legislation, which includes a "collection of punishments" for low-income individuals, "moves the nation in the wrong direction," the editorial adds (Bangor Daily News, 12/20).

Boston Globe: "It is a political season of unyielding Scrooges: Republicans in Congress have passed a budget reconciliation bill that gives program cuts to the poor," such as Medicaid, according to a Globe editorial. The editorial states, "Cuts to Medicaid mean that parents and children who are just above the poverty line could face higher copayments and premiums," as well as reduced benefits, which might prompt some families to "defer or forgo care" and lead to "expensive crises" (Boston Globe, 12/22).

Salt Lake Tribune: "Republican leaders in the House needed every vote they could get to pass this irresponsible budget package," a Tribune editorial states. The editorial adds that Cheney should have remained in the Middle East "and let this budget package die" (Salt Lake Tribune, 12/20).

San Jose Mercury News: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) in the "dead of the night Sunday" attached liability protections for vaccine manufacturers to the defense appropriations bill, a Mercury News editorial states, adding, "Merry Fristmas, drug manufacturers." According to the editorial, the U.S. "should offer suitable financial incentives for drug manufacturers to ensure enough long-term profitability that they will begin ramping up vaccine production to meet the nation's future needs. And the Senate should work next year on an immunization against viruses attached to future defense appropriation bills" (San Jose Mercury News, 12/21).

Washington Post: The "undemocratic maneuvers, skewed priorities and capitulation to powerful lobbies" this week in negotiations over the budget reconciliation bill mark a "particularly low bar for congressional behavior," according to a Post editorial. The legislation is an "exercise in self-delusion and the power of special interests," such as health insurers and pharmaceutical companies, the editorial states, adding, "No lawmaker heading home for the holidays should feel that there's much to celebrate in this frenzy of backroom dealing and dishonest posturing" (Washington Post, 12/21).

Commentary
"Shouldn't we all be worried when the government is willing to foot thousands of dollars in hospital fees" but "isn't willing" to cover the cost of copays for physician visits for Medicaid beneficiaries, Stefan Kertesz, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, asks in a commentary on APM's "Marketplace Morning Report" on Tuesday. According to Kertesz, Medicaid beneficiaries must weigh the cost of health care against the cost of food and rent and cannot afford the premiums and "increasingly large" copays for physician visits included in the budget reconciliation bill (Kertesz, "Marketplace Morning Report," APM, 12/20).

The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.

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