Frances and Katherine, our twin daughters, turned three this summer! They are without question the cutest and smartest little kids to walk the earth (says their extra proud and totally in love dad). We are fortunate that my position as a minister in the United Church of Christ comes with benefits that include health care for our daughters. Not everyone is so lucky.
In fact, millions of children go without health insurance and that impacts their overall well-being. That is why it is so important that Congress is advancing toward the enactment of legislation that will expand health care for children in America and why it is so deeply disappointing that House Republicans and the White House are fighting this expansion because it is paid for by an increase in the cigarette tax. Big tobacco before the health of our children seems to be the motto of President Bush.
Barack Obama said this week on the floor of the Senate that:
“To most Americans, we seem completely disconnected from the reality that they’re living every day. Especially when we have a President who actually said, ‘I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.’” “That’s what passes for universal health care in the greatest, wealthiest country on Earth – overcrowded, understaffed Emergency Rooms that raise everyone’s premiums and cost taxpayers more money.” “It’s shameful. And what’s even more shameful is that nine million of the Americans who are forced to wait in Emergency Rooms when they get sick – who have no health insurance at all – are children.” “Children who did not choose where they were born or how much money their parents have. Children whose development depends on the care and nourishment they receive in those early years. Children who any parent, anywhere, should want to protect at any cost.” “Now, we can shade the truth and pretend there are only one million uninsured like the President says. We can make excuses for this neglect or we can just ignore it altogether, but as long as there are nine million children in the United States of America with no health insurance, it is a betrayal of the ideals we hold as Americans.” “It’s not who we are, and today is our chance to prove it.” “We know that CHIP works. Because of CHIP, 6 million children who’d otherwise be uninsured have health care today. Because of CHIP, millions of children are protected when their parents lose their health care.” “Because of CHIP, individual states like my home state of Illinois are building on its success to expand health coverage even further. And because of CHIP, millions of children with asthma, traumatic injuries, and mental health conditions, are able to see a doctor and get the treatment they need.” “Even though the uninsured rate among low-income children fell by more than one-third in the years after CHIP was enacted, the trend reversed two years ago. And since then, we’ve seen growing numbers of uninsured children.” “Uninsured children are twice as likely as insured children to miss out on needed medical care, including doctor visits and checkups.” “One quarter of uninsured children don’t get any medical care at all. And those who do, get lower quality care. Even with the same illnesses and conditions, whether it’s an ear infection or appendicitis, studies have found that uninsured children get different treatment, and often suffer more as a result. One study even found that uninsured children who are admitted to a hospital with injuries are twice as likely to die there as children who do have insurance.” “And to put this problem in the larger context, we know that when a child gets sick and can’t get treated – or receives inadequate treatment – he misses more days of school. And when he misses more school days, he begins to do worse relative to his peers. And that can have long-term consequences on his chances in life. That’s not something I’d want for either of my two young daughters or for any other American child.” “So let’s get serious and solve this problem. Let’s reauthorize CHIP. Let’s make sure that the 6 million children who are now covered through the program continue to be covered – and let’s extend coverage to an additional 3.2 million uninsured children.”
“To most Americans, we seem completely disconnected from the reality that they’re living every day. Especially when we have a President who actually said, ‘I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.’”
“That’s what passes for universal health care in the greatest, wealthiest country on Earth – overcrowded, understaffed Emergency Rooms that raise everyone’s premiums and cost taxpayers more money.”
“It’s shameful. And what’s even more shameful is that nine million of the Americans who are forced to wait in Emergency Rooms when they get sick – who have no health insurance at all – are children.”
“Children who did not choose where they were born or how much money their parents have. Children whose development depends on the care and nourishment they receive in those early years. Children who any parent, anywhere, should want to protect at any cost.”
“Now, we can shade the truth and pretend there are only one million uninsured like the President says. We can make excuses for this neglect or we can just ignore it altogether, but as long as there are nine million children in the United States of America with no health insurance, it is a betrayal of the ideals we hold as Americans.”
“It’s not who we are, and today is our chance to prove it.” “We know that CHIP works. Because of CHIP, 6 million children who’d otherwise be uninsured have health care today. Because of CHIP, millions of children are protected when their parents lose their health care.”
“Because of CHIP, individual states like my home state of Illinois are building on its success to expand health coverage even further. And because of CHIP, millions of children with asthma, traumatic injuries, and mental health conditions, are able to see a doctor and get the treatment they need.”
“Even though the uninsured rate among low-income children fell by more than one-third in the years after CHIP was enacted, the trend reversed two years ago. And since then, we’ve seen growing numbers of uninsured children.”
“Uninsured children are twice as likely as insured children to miss out on needed medical care, including doctor visits and checkups.”
“One quarter of uninsured children don’t get any medical care at all. And those who do, get lower quality care. Even with the same illnesses and conditions, whether it’s an ear infection or appendicitis, studies have found that uninsured children get different treatment, and often suffer more as a result. One study even found that uninsured children who are admitted to a hospital with injuries are twice as likely to die there as children who do have insurance.”
“And to put this problem in the larger context, we know that when a child gets sick and can’t get treated – or receives inadequate treatment – he misses more days of school. And when he misses more school days, he begins to do worse relative to his peers. And that can have long-term consequences on his chances in life. That’s not something I’d want for either of my two young daughters or for any other American child.”
“So let’s get serious and solve this problem. Let’s reauthorize CHIP. Let’s make sure that the 6 million children who are now covered through the program continue to be covered – and let’s extend coverage to an additional 3.2 million uninsured children.”
Amen to that.
You can learn more about this issue by visiting the Children’s Defense Fund web site.
- The Rev. Chuck Currie
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