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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (540)	7/14/1998 10:56:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

House Panel Votes To Bar Most Fedl Coverage Of Viagra July 14, 1998 7:56 PM WASHINGTON (AP)--A House panel voted Tuesday to forbid the government to reimburse low-income men who use Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) Viagra, the popular anti-impotency pill that a governors' group estimates would cost taxpayers $100 million a year. In an afternoon of ground-breaking election-year votes, the House Appropriations Committee also voted to require federally financed family planning clinics to notify parents when giving contraceptives to minors, and to create a new warning label for blacks on cigarettes. The votes came as the committee voted 32-23 to approve a massive, $290 billion measure covering the departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor for fiscal 1999, which begins Oct. 1. The Senate has yet to write its own version of the legislation, which is perennially one of Congress' most controversial spending measures. President Clinton threatened to veto the overall bill Tuesday, but his statement did not mention the provisions lawmakers added. Instead, he complained that the measure would provide less than he wants for hiring new teachers, modernizing schools and improving job training, child care and other programs. The Viagra provision was approved by voice vote after it was introduced by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the committee's ranking Democrat. It would block a July 2 Clinton administration directive ordering states to use Medicaid, the health program for low-income Americans, to cover the drug when medically necessary. The vote came as Wisconsin, New York and perhaps other states were considering defying the administration's order to cover Viagra, arguing that it would be risky for patients and costly for taxpayers. Medicaid is financed by the federal and state governments.