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Politically possible to improve kids' health
By Mary Wachtel
The writer is the director of public policy for Voices for Ohio's Children, which describes itself as a nonpartisan group of nonprofit public- and private-sector organizations concerned about children's health and other issues.
With new incoming leadership at the national and state levels, elected officials finally have the opportunity to work together across party lines to accomplish a goal that a majority of Americans support: making sure all of the nation's children have the health care they need. The challenge is inescapable, but the solution is achievable.
Nearly 9 million children are growing up in households without health insurance. As the cost of health care continues to rise, and more companies cut back or cut out their medical plans for employees and their families, more children are likely to lose their health insurance.
Parents of these children think twice before taking them to the doctor when they're ill or injured; they can't afford regular medical checkups; they take them to emergency rooms when small problems that weren't attended to early become big problems that require immediate assistance; and they often develop serious health problems, from rheumatic fever to difficulties with their vision or hearing, that go untreated and trouble them for the rest of their lives.
Providing these children with health coverage is politically possible and fiscally feasible. Public opinion surveys consistently demonstrate that Americans across the political spectrum believe children should have medical coverage so they can grow up healthy, succeed in school and become productive adults. While fixing the nation's entire health-care system may seem overwhelmingly complex and costly, providing health insurance for all of America's children is a goal the nation can achieve and afford.
The blueprint is simple: Just build on the gains that have already been made by two proven programs that provide health care for kids from low-income families. Serving the nation's low-income families, Medicaid provides health care for 28 million children, including 939,000 in Ohio.
Meanwhile, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, has been one of the greatest recent social-policy successes. Created in 1997, federal SCHIP funds support states to provide health insurance for children who are not insured already.
The program covers more than 6 million children, most of whom would otherwise be uninsured. SCHIP's success can be measured by the fact that, since 1997, the percentage of kids from low-income families without insurance has declined by one-third, even though millions more adults have lost their medical coverage.
These gains could be reversed unless the newly elected Congress continues to work with state governments to maintain and expand health coverage for kids in need.
As health-care costs increase and the nation's population grows, Medicaid services for eligible children should continue to be guaranteed. Meanwhile, SCHIP's original 10-year authorization expires next year. This is an opportunity for elected officials to ensure children continue to receive care and more children have access to health coverage.
Ohio's rate of 5.4 percent for uninsured children is below the national average, in large part because Medicaid and SCHIP have done what they are supposed to: provide health insurance for children in families who otherwise are not offered coverage or cannot afford coverage. Without Ohio's Medicaid and SCHIP coverage (of families earning up to 200 percent of the federally designated poverty level), we would have many more uninsured children in this state.
Meeting this challenge requires bipartisanship and bold action, nationally and in the states. Congress needs to guarantee that Medicaid services for children continue to be available and that SCHIP is maintained and improved so it can provide better services for more eligible children.
Ohio should follow the lead of Pennsylvania and Illinois, which recently expanded their own efforts to provide health care to children in need.
The key to all of this is keeping the Medicaid and SCHIP programs strong, through congressional support of the 2007 SCHIP reauthorization.
At the state level, Gov.-elect Ted Strickland can further advance the program by investing public dollars in community-based outreach, enrollment and renewal assistance for children and families, making the enrollment and renewal system more streamlined and efficient and committing to an eligibility expansion so all Ohio children can have access to health insurance.
Mary Wachtel
Director of Public Policy
614.648.1450
mwachtel@vfc-oh.org
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