For those of us who thought the government would never take health care seriously, there’s finally evidence that people in Washington are starting to get serious. The latest thought-provoking issue is … Medicaid viagra for sex offenders!
Apparently up to a hundred sex offenders in New York have been getting government sponsored Viagra through the state’s Medicaid program. New York Governor George Pataki scored political points at a press conference this morning, blaming the problem on a Clinton-era loophole in the law. The reference did not go unnoticed.
A story nobody even knew existed 36-hours ago now leads Google News with 617 stories, putting it ahead of Crestor (503), the bird flu (295) and the stem cell debate (137 stories).
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For some reason I can’t help that think that someone, somewhere is reading this story and planning a class action lawsuit.
Since the HHS has a turn-around time of months complaints, they probably regard 2 days as light speed.
I agree, utterly without substance. But if you like the blood sport of politics, this was a thriller!
Good pickup that Pataki gave a very nice cover for Leavitt’s office, at a potential cost to himself (“Gov. Pataki, did you know about this? Did you confront HHS? Why do you like rapists?”). That should earn him some brownie points to make up for the fact that this hit happened in his backyard and he didn’t know anything about it.
But Pataki was too little, too late. It took Leavitt a full day to respond, so the spin on this two-day story is “Hevesi good, NYS neutral, HHS baaaaaad.” That’s what Leavitt’s people get for not answering their phone on a Sunday…heads must be rolling in the HHS press office!
Textbook perfect media hit by Hevesi.