Gore Criticizes Bush’s Health Record

Al Gore repeated his call for major health care reform during a stop Thursday in the swing state of Pennsylvania, intensifying his criticism of George W. Bush’s health care record.

At Children’s Hospital here, Gore said that, if elected president, he would ensure that all children receive medical insurance coverage by the end of his first term. Analysts believe 10 million to 11 million children nationwide are uninsured.

“For a growing child, health care is not a luxury. It is a fundamental necessity,” the vice president said.

“At this moment of fantastic prosperity, we must make a historic national commitment to make sure that no child goes without the care they need,” Gore added.

Gore, the presumptive Democratic nominee, also lambasted Republican Bush for failing to improve health care coverage in Texas, saying that the Lone Star State leads the nation in the number of people without insurance and ranks second in both the number and the percentage of uninsured women and children.

Gore said the poor rankings are prompted, in part, by cumbersome requirements that discourage parents from enrolling their children in government-sponsored health programs. He said “more than 600,000” Texas children lack medical insurance.

Bush, he said, “has some serious questions to answer.”

The Bush campaign answered by calling Gore’s statements “distortions” and “misrepresentations.”

Gore failed to explain that, during the Clinton administration, the national uninsured rate has increased almost four times as fast as the rate in Texas, according to Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer.

“Al Gore’s willingness to attack and distort the record . . . underscores his problem with credibility,” Fleischer said in a statement.

As governor, he added, Bush signed legislation to provide health insurance for 432,000 Texas children and increased Medicaid funding by $2.2 billion.

The campaign also disputed Gore’s claim that applying for the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Texas is a complicated process, saying it is a “family-friendly” application that does not require in-person interviews.

Meanwhile, Gore vowed that as president he would remove red tape and other barriers in order to make it easier for parents to enroll their children in government insurance programs.

“Under a Gore administration, states would receive financial incentives to increase health care enrollment,” Gore said.

Gore also said he has no intention of letting up his criticism of Bush’s agenda but added that he would not engage in personal attacks.

“I think the substance of issues should be debated vigorously,” Gore said, standing on an airport tarmac in Pittsburgh before heading to Philadelphia for a fund-raiser. “I think personal attacks are way out of line, and I will not have any of that.”

The vice president plans to deliver what aides billed as a major education speech in Dallas today.