March 2007
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A chance to raise healthier children
As the national debate intensifies over health insurance, one group of Americans simply doesn’t have the voice to be heard: children. There are more than 8 million of them without insurance in our nation, and if Congress fails to fund an existing program, about 4.4 million more could end up without basic health-care coverage.
It is an undisputed fact that children without health insurance tend to get sicker, and sometimes die, because small problems go untreated.
Studies have found that uninsured children are 10 times more likely to go without the care they need. And they are substantially more likely to go without prescription drugs or treatment for such conditions as asthma, ear infections, and sore throats. As a result, they have double the odds of being in fair or poor health as children who have coverage.
Paying for health care
Most families get health insurance through work, where employers and private insurance cover about 48 million of America’s 74 million children 18 and under. Medicaid programs cover about 16 million children whose parents have incomes at or below the poverty level--about $13,500 a year for a mother and child.
Yet in today’s economy, it is difficult even for families struggling just above the poverty level to afford health insurance. The federal government created the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for them in 1997. It covers almost 4.4 million children in families whose incomes fall below two times the federal poverty level.
But this spring, some states will start running out of money for this special health insurance. Congress must come up with at least $700 million more or about 400,000 children could lose the coverage they now have.
The much bigger problem is that the entire SCHIP program is scheduled to expire in September, the end of the government’s fiscal year, unless Congress votes to continue it beyond 2007.
Congressional leaders are trying to come up with answers, but they have yet to reach a consensus on either short- or long-term solutions.
Widening the net
As Congress tackles the issue, it makes sense for leaders to take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen the program and also help the more than 8 million other children who have no health insurance. It’s estimated that about 75 percent of them are already eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP coverage, but reaching their parents is hard and the application process is often convoluted.
We urge Congress to set standards that will make it easier to enroll children in either health-insurance program, and to provide enough money to the states so that all children in lower-income families are covered.
The larger issue of affordable health care for Americans of all ages should be high on Washington’s agenda--but it isn’t. We hope it will become more prominent as we approach the 2008 presidential election. Until then, we must at least ensure that kids get the care they deserve.
As the national debate intensifies over health insurance, one group of Americans simply doesn’t have the voice to be heard: children. There are more than 8 million of them without insurance in our nation, and if Congress fails to fund an existing program, about 4.4 million more could end up without basic health-care coverage.
It is an undisputed fact that children without health insurance tend to get sicker, and sometimes die, because small problems go untreated.
Studies have found that uninsured children are 10 times more likely to go without the care they need. And they are substantially more likely to go without prescription drugs or treatment for such conditions as asthma, ear infections, and sore throats. As a result, they have double the odds of being in fair or poor health as children who have coverage.
Paying for health care
Most families get health insurance through work, where employers and private insurance cover about 48 million of America’s 74 million children 18 and under. Medicaid programs cover about 16 million children whose parents have incomes at or below the poverty level--about $13,500 a year for a mother and child.
Yet in today’s economy, it is difficult even for families struggling just above the poverty level to afford health insurance. The federal government created the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for them in 1997. It covers almost 4.4 million children in families whose incomes fall below two times the federal poverty level.
But this spring, some states will start running out of money for this special health insurance. Congress must come up with at least $700 million more or about 400,000 children could lose the coverage they now have.
The much bigger problem is that the entire SCHIP program is scheduled to expire in September, the end of the government’s fiscal year, unless Congress votes to continue it beyond 2007.
Congressional leaders are trying to come up with answers, but they have yet to reach a consensus on either short- or long-term solutions.
Widening the net
As Congress tackles the issue, it makes sense for leaders to take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen the program and also help the more than 8 million other children who have no health insurance. It’s estimated that about 75 percent of them are already eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP coverage, but reaching their parents is hard and the application process is often convoluted.
We urge Congress to set standards that will make it easier to enroll children in either health-insurance program, and to provide enough money to the states so that all children in lower-income families are covered.
The larger issue of affordable health care for Americans of all ages should be high on Washington’s agenda--but it isn’t. We hope it will become more prominent as we approach the 2008 presidential election. Until then, we must at least ensure that kids get the care they deserve.
