Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995                   TAG: 9503100078
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN CONGRESS

WASHINGTON - A bill aimed at stopping health insurance companies from denying coverage to battered women and other domestic violence victims was introduced in the Senate Thursday.

The legislation by Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., would make insurance companies criminally and civilly liable for viewing domestic violence as a pre-existing condition.

While some insurance companies treat injuries from domestic violence as pre-existing conditions and refuse to cover them, others charge higher premiums for the coverage, Wellstone said.

``Right now, battered women are being put into this horrible position of being battered again. Because then what happens is that they see the insurance policy canceled or the rates set at such an exorbitant rate that they can't afford it,'' he said. ``It's the worst possible example of blaming the victim.''

- Associated Press

Cutting fuel aid worries senators

WASHINGTON - Republican senators expressed concern Thursday over a House proposal to kill a program that helps millions of poor Americans pay their heating bills.

The House Appropriations Committee voted last week to eliminate federal spending in 1996 on the $1.3 billion Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program as part of package of budget cuts totaling just over $17 billion.

Some members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Department of Health and Human Services are uneasy about the House plan, including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the panel's chairman, and Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt.

Jeffords said it is ironic that the cuts are included in a spending package that also includes aid to help California rebuild from the January 1994 Northridge earthquake near Los Angeles and disasters in other states.

``Twice as many people froze to death during last year's cold spell as were killed in the devastating California earthquake,'' Jeffords said.

The issue arose as senators questioned HHS Secretary Donna Shalala at a hearing Thursday on her department's 1996 budget.

- Associated Press