Clinton’s Vaccine Plan Called Too Ambitious

Lawmakers say the Clinton Administration is exceeding the intentions of Congress in the way it is implementing legislation to ensure all children are vaccinated, it was reported today.

The Administration plans to obtain most of the childhood vaccine used in the United States and set up a warehouse to store and distribute it, The New York Times reported. Such a far-reaching plan would create “a new entitlement, unrelated to all financial need,” Sens. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) and John C. Danforth (R-Mo.) complained in a letter to the Administration last month.

They said “high- and middle-income families would be eligible for free vaccine . . . as long as the benefit was not included in their insurance coverage.”