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Home > Take Action > Encourage Ohio Congressional Members to Support Kids Health | ||||||||||||||||||
 
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05-06-2008Ohio has been a national leader in the effort to cover uninsured children. But a new federal administrative policy is undermining our state's flexibility to take these steps and stands between 35,000 Ohio children and the health care they need. You can help, by sending a letter to your congressional member and U.S. Senators, asking them to stand up for our efforts in Ohio to cover our uninsured kids.Since policy debate is moving forward in Washington on these issues, it is wise to email or fax the letter to their offices to ensure they receive it in a timely manner. As a result of bipartisan policy reforms adopted over the last decade, Ohio's un-insurance rate among children dropped from about 10% in 1998 to about 5% in 2004. Last year, bipartisan support was shown for H.B. 119, which included critical reforms to make reliable, affordable health coverage available to thousands of additional uninsured children by expanding Ohio's successful Medicaid/SCHIP program. In December, however, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rejected Ohio's proposal to begin implementing our plan, reversing longstanding federal policy. The rejection was based on a directive that CMS issued in August, 2007 and puts systemic roadblocks in the way of states seeking to cover children in more moderate-income families. One particularly misguided CMS requirement would make eligible children go uninsured for a whole year before Ohio could cover them. Parents from Ashtabula to Cincinnati know that it is hard for working families to keep pace with the skyrocketing cost of private health coverage. And for many hardworking Ohio families, it is simply unaffordable. The coverage improvements we enacted are needed now more than ever given the toll that the economic downturn is taking on Ohio families. Ohio needs a real partnership from the federal government, not a Washington-knows-best attitude and a sheaf of burdensome bureaucratic rules. Ohio Legislators from both sides of the aisle have been writing letters to the Congressional delegation seeking their support in asking House and Senate leadership to put a moratorium on the August 17th CMS directive. Please join them by sending a letter urging your congressional representative and U.S. Senators to suspend the August 17th CMS directive. We have supplied a sample letter as a guide. If you have any questions or want to discuss this issue, do not hesitate to call any member of the Voices' policy team listed below. If you decide to submit a letter, we'd appreciate if you'd consider sharing a copy of your submission. Thank you again for your support for covering Ohio's uninsured children. Amy N. Swanson (330) 472-4350 Gayle Channing Tenenbaum (614) 226-3116 Mary Wachtel (614) 648-1450 Sandy Erb-Wilson (614) 477-7223 |
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