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Bush plans more community health centers
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In another move designed to make medical care more affordable and accessible, President Bush said Saturday he plans to expand the number of community health centers -- mostly in rural and central-city areas. "If Congress funds my budget request for these important health centers, we can help an additional 1 million Americans get health care in 2003 and 4 million more by 2006," Bush said in his weekly radio address. He said the bill he signed Friday would help his administration create or expand 1,200 centers by 2006. "Community health centers are America's health care safety net, providing prenatal care, checkups and preventative treatments to anyone who walks in the door," the president said. Bush also signed a measure Friday to speed up the approval process for medical devices. Because the Food and Drug Administration is increasingly overwhelmed by the number and complexity of the devices they are asked to review, companies will pay the agency a "reasonable fee" so they can hire more staff, he said. "The entire nation will benefit from a faster approval of lifesaving innovations," Bush added. Monday, Bush proposed regulations that would make lower-cost generic drugs available to the public more quickly, limiting the ability of brand-name drug companies to delay their production. The White House proposal would give name-brand drug companies one 30-month stay only for each drug manufactured, thus blocking them from filing multiple patent-protection lawsuits and keeping the generic versions off the market. "Right now, some brand name drug companies are using legal maneuvers to delay the approval of generic drugs, sometimes for years," Bush said Saturday. "By reducing the public's wait for quality generic drugs, we will reduce the cost of prescriptions in this country by more than $3 billion each year," he added. "These savings will help employer health plans, state Medicaid programs and seniors who buy medicines on their own."
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