1. Tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy
In 1997, he was the chief proponent behind the Children's Health Insurance (CHIP) bill for kids whose family incomes are both too high to qualify for Medicaid and too low to afford private health insurance. Some called it the most far-reaching piece of healthcare legislation in a generation. CHIP has been an incredibly successful public-private partnership between federal and state governments and private health insurance plans currently covering over 7 million children and youths.
2. National: Covering Children's Unique Health Care Needs
By now, we all know the debate over reforming our nation's health system has taken over the political discourse at home, on television, and on the internet. We are seeing a flurry of information from pundits, bloggers, and experts regarding what the American people want from health reform. So as cable news networks continue to distort the truth with insignificant online polls and choice footage from town halls, First Focus, a bipartisan children's advocacy organization, set out to determine what is really on the minds of the American public.
As Americans, one thing we all agree on is the importance of investing in the health of our nation's children. And the numbers indicate that the American public strongly believes that providing children with comprehensive benefits through health reform should be a top priority. A recent poll conducted by Lake Research Partners found that by an overwhelming 8-to-1 margin (87-11%) Americans favor ensuring all children have health care coverage, including by a 68-28% margin, even if it increases their taxes. The survey also found that the American people's top priorities for health reform are (1) controlling costs and (2) covering all children, respectively.
These findings are not surprising since these two priorities are truly complementary. Our polling demonstrates that the public recognizes what health care experts have long understood--a major way to control long-term health care costs is by investing in comprehensive children's health care now. Americans understand that when an asthmatic child can get regular treatment, she is less likely to need emergency room care. That helps to keep the child in school and parents at work, and it helps taxpayers avoid the high cost of paying for unreimbursed emergency care and serious illnesses, which result when care is delayed.
Americans clearly recognize that providing children with immunizations and well-child visits reduces healthcare costs well into the future. In other words, for children the costs of prevention are far lower than the life-long costs of chronic illness. Americans firmly believe this rather common sense notion by a sizable 53-20% margin. Upon receiving the results of the poll, Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research, remarked, "By overwhelming. majorities, American voters want to ensure that all children have health insurance. They also want to ensure children are not left worse off by health reform." In fact, some in Congress have proposed to eliminate the successful Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and instead move those children to a new health system under a Health Insurance Exchange, whose function and outline is still being formulated by Congress. To that end, the American public would caution Congress to be extra careful in how they proceed and to adopt a "do no harm" standard for children currently enrolled in programs such as Medicaid and CHIP.
In fact, a significant 3-1 majority (62-21%) of Americans would oppose the elimination of CHIP if they learned that the Exchange "may be more costly for families and provide fewer benefits for children." Moreover, by an almost 4-to-1 margin of 54-14%, Americans would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported a health care reform plan that reduced the level of health care coverage for children.
The message from the American people is rather simple: Covering all children is a top priority in health reform. This means that no matter what action Congress takes, they must address the unique developmental needs of children by ensuring they have comprehensive benefits that cover them from head to toe. There are no do-overs for childhood. We must get health reform right the first time by enacting legislation that improves coverage and care for our most precious resource, our children. [Bruce Lesley, The Huffington Post, 08/20/09]
3. Florida: Let's Not Default on Our Kids Health Care
As our elected officials deliberate what shape health reform will take, we at Nemours ask, "What's in it for the kids?" This nation needs a health system that not only ensures all children will get care when they're sick, but one that does its utmost to keep them healthy. The time is right to encourage investment in prevention strategies for children that reach into their homes, schools and communities. Nemours has developed a model that combines a tradition of excellence in pediatric health care with a community-based approach to preventing disease.
To our knowledge, no other children's health system in the nation is making this kind of investment in prevention. Research shows that prevention efforts targeting children can both improve health in the short term and encourage healthy lifestyles into adulthood, yet only a paltry 5 percent of health dollars are spent on prevention.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move our system from a focus on sickness to a focus on wellness. Nemours children's health network advocates for policies aimed at improving the health of all children, not just those we serve directly. We support the following as essential components of national health reform legislation:
* All children deserve certain basic benefits. Health reform must create a standard benefit for every child that includes health promotion, preventive and primary care services including oral, developmental, and mental health.
* Primary prevention means it never happened. We need a national strategy and mandatory funding for prevention. Since certain diseases, like obesity, have roots at least in part in societal factors, they need solutions that reach into all sectors of society--schools, neighborhoods, child care centers. and businesses.
There is disagreement, to be sure, about how we pay for a health system that covers everyone. According to the Florida Children's Service Council, more than a half-million Florida children have no health insurance. Even as we debate public vs. private plans, there can be nothing but one consensus that, when it comes to kids, the emphasis should be on prevention. As physician and author Andrew Weil notes, "Health is the default state of being."
In other words, health is normal; illness is not. Let's create an action plan that makes a difference. For future generations to benefit, we have to care now. [Florida Times-Union, 08/19/09]
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