WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- Children's health advocates fired back Tuesday at a new, lower estimate by the Bush Administration of the number of U.S. uninsured children.
The data released earlier this week by the Department of Health and Human Services said there are 4.9 million uninsured children in the United States, a figure dramatically lower than the Census Bureau estimate of 9 million used by children's groups and many members of Congress.
But supporters of the larger number say the Health and Human Services data ignores millions of uninsured children.
"This politically motivated data dramatically understates the true crisis of uninsured children in this country," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "It only counts children who are uninsured for an entire year, dismissing the millions of children who go uninsured for parts of each year."
Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said the new number, taken from an Urban Institute study commissioned by the agency, supports President Bush's plan to cover the uninsured via allowing states to experiment with existing funds to cover more children, instead of the Democratic plan to augment the State Children's Health Insurance Program with $50 billion over five years.
