House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer faulted Republicans on Tuesday for not advancing a Zika funding bill that can be supported by Democrats, and warned that the healthcare cost of children born with the virus tops out around $10 million each, according to government estimates.
“Every child that comes down with Zika … is a tragedy in and of itself, from a health standpoint, from the child’s standpoint. From an economic standpoint, [Centers for Disease and Prevention Control Director Tom Frieden] says the costs are probably in the neighborhood of somewhere around $10 million over that child’s life,” Hoyer told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday. “Obviously, the moral, human consideration is first. There are more than 16,800 Americans that have contracted the virus; 1,600 pregnant women that have been affected; and 17 babies have been born in America with birth defects related to the Zika virus.”
