Lawmaker concerned flu plan is too costly

Blanching at the price tag, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said Tuesday he opposes the Bush administration's $7 billion plan for combating avian flu.

Barton accused the administration of throwing money at an undefined problem and said he would vote against the proposal if it is offered on the House floor. HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt, who testified before the panel, argued that the administration has proposed the funding as a one-time emergency supplemental because of the imminence of a pandemic threat.

"We need to be moving quickly," Leavitt said. But Barton noted that his panel has jurisdiction over nearly every HHS-administered program and had just spent months trimming them -- including Medicaid -- as part of the reconciliation bill. Barton asked whether Leavitt would help him find offsets to cover the cost of avian flu preparation.

While the virus has the potential to be catastrophic, he said not enough is known about it to add to the budget deficit.

"Too often, our response to potential threats is to hide behind a wall of money," Barton said. "The theory seems to be that every dollar will make that wall higher and thicker, and we'll be that much safer. ... I think wasting taxpayers' money will not keep people from catching the flu."

He said he would like to hear whether Congress can increase vaccine manufacturing capacity by offering incentives for companies to invest in technology and by protecting them from legal liability.

Committee Democrats argued the president's plan does not offer enough money to help state and local governments prepare for the threat. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said the $100 million proposed for state and local aid, or about $2 million per state, would "not go very far" in California.

But Leavitt said the president's plan calls for the federal government to cover the bulk of the cost of medications and that states must "be engaged" on the proposal. He said states "can't be counting on the federal government to put a pill in everybody's palm."

But Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said states might not have the resources to distribute the medication, particularly since "we're cutting their Medicaid."