Governors Push for More Healthcare Money

Governors from several cash-strapped states warn that unless Congress gives them more money to help pay for health care for the poor, their states could face layoffs and cuts in services.

The governors, including Pennsylvania's Ed Rendell, New York's David Paterson and Michigan's Jennifer Granholm, said Wednesday that their states need the money to avoid cutbacks that could hurt some of their most vulnerable citizens. A deficit-weary Congress recently rejected billions of dollars in additional aid to states.

The federal stimulus program enacted last year expires in December. Congress was poised to extend some funding to states, including $16 billion for Medicaid, the public health care program for the poor. But the measure died in the Senate.