Children’s Health
Health Care Reform: What Does it Mean for Children?
Voices is monitoring the bill’s impact on children and families. Some of the headline reforms the bill makes include the following:
- Prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions;
- Eliminating lifetime and annual limits, a critical change for children with chronic conditions
- Allowing parents to maintain coverage for unmarried dependents up to age 26;
- Requiring health plans to cover, at no cost, the preventive care and screening procedures as outlined in Bright Futures, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ gold standard for preventive care; and
- Building on the success of Medicaid and CHIP in reducing the number of uninsured children by setting a new eligibility floor for Medicaid at 133 percent of the federal poverty level and preserving CHIP through 2019, with funding provided for the program through 2015.
Children’s Health Articles
Posted by Bill Bentley on Jul. 29
As Voices advocate Joan Benso says, summer is a carefree time for children, but this summer, some of their parents and guardians have a lot to worry about. The president and CEO of Voices member group Pennsylvannia Partnerships for Children, Benso explained in an op-ed this week that we're running out of time to boost to federal-state programs like Medicaid, and the results could be dire:
"This likely will mean the reduction of basic education funding resulting in the layoffs of thousands of teachers statewide; cuts to child welfare funding and programs that serve children with mental disabilities; and damaging reduced support to early childhood programs, including Pre-K Counts, the state's preschool program for at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds; the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program; Child Care Works, the program that helps low-income working parents pay for child care; Keystone STARS, the state's quality improvement and rating system for child care centers, and Nurse Family Partnerships that provides low-income, first-time moms with the care and support they need to raise safe, healthy babies."
Posted by Carla Plaza on Jul. 14
Among children whose parents suffered a job loss from 2000-2004, almost a third lost their health care coverage, according to
a new study from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. And in children from low-income families, almost half lost insurance coverage.
Keep in mind that this data comes from the early 2000s; just imagine the damage done by the great recession! But as the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families pointed out
in a blog entry yesterday, there is some good news for children's health, too: "Thanks to the hard work of Governors, state-based advocates, and political leaders in Washington who have made a strong commitment to covering children, many of the children in families losing jobs now are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP and, increasingly, they are facing easier, more family-friendly enrollment procedures."
Posted by Bill Bentley on May. 14
Using government advocacy, public awareness, and the trust of policymakers throughout the state, Voices for Ohio's Children has helped that state meet its promises to its young. That's why we're pleased to congratulate them on their recent "Health Care Heroes" award.
One of Voices for Ohio's Children's big wins for child help was advocating for expanded eligibility for Medicaid for low-income families. The change, signed into law in 2008, helped more than 21,000 Ohio children receive care. Keep up the good work, Voices members!
Posted by Carla Plaza on May. 11
Like many states in these financially tough times, Texas has both a budget crisis and a humanitarian crisis on its hands. The same economic forces that are pressuring it to cut social services are also squeezing families, thus creating more demand for those services. Simply put, Texas families are suffering--physically, even, as new data shows.
As Voices member Texans Care for Children pointed out last week, that state suffers the worst rate of child obesity for girls (with Mississippi worst overall). The cost of obesity to Texas businesses has been estimated at $3 billion a year, which climbs to nearly $16 billion if we do nothing. Texas officials now must find the political courage to make long-term decisions for the health of our children, despite a budget shortfall.
Sign up for the Texans Care for Children newsletter to learn more.
Posted by Voices_staff on May. 6
Economic research shows that investments in children-age 5 and younger-improve school readiness and decrease crime, teen pregnancy, delinquency, substance abuse, and welfare dependency. The science of early brain development demonstrates how child development, before the age of 5, is the foundation for a prosperous society. Brain architecture is constructed through an ongoing process that begins before birth. Early experiences affect the quality of that architecture by establishing either a sturdy or fragile foundation for learning, health, and behavior in later years.
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