By Larry Tate
February 12, 2007

The focus of this standing committee January 25 session was on health insurance issues for children and youth. Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline chaired the meeting, calling attention to the section of the Mayors’ 10-Point Plan dealing with Children’s Health Insurance. The plan states, “It is crucial that funding for programs such as Head Start, Early Head Start, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) be increased to their full authorization levels.” Cicilline said, “We need to be sure that every child in America has good access to health care.”

Congressman Patrick Kennedy (RI), member of the United States House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations, presented a review of the outlook in this area. He began by discussing mental health issues, which he described as “…the biggest elephant in the room in terms of the public health crisis.” In areas such as crime, special education, and Medicaid, he said cities are “picking up the pieces of a broken mental health system.” He also emphasized, “To talk about children, we have to talk about family.” He advocated “targeted interventions for at-risk families,” in terms of both mental and physical health. On the appropriations front, he noted that, “The real decision is the budget.” If the HHS budget is insufficient, any improvement in one program will require a cut in another program, whatever the good intentions of lawmakers may be.

Marian Wright Edelman, President and Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, devoted her presentation to advocacy of an ambitious effort to provide health care to all children. “A child is a child is a child,” she said. “We need to cover every child in America this year, and guarantee that coverage.” Further, the children’s coverage would be “a down payment through our children on health care for everybody.” She advocated comprehensive services with simplified access and presumptive enrollment. With a possible $26 billion price tag, Edelman argued, “It’s not a money issue, it’s a values issue. If we can’t stand up for children’s health coverage, what can we stand up for?”

Elizabeth Burke Bryant, Executive Director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, a children’s policy and research organization, echoed a thought from Edelman in saying that a national effort to provide children’s health insurance was “one of those issues where states are leading the way.” Principally, she detailed the success of Rhode Island’s managed care program for low-income and working families with children under 19. The program, she said, is well-managed, carries no stigma and, with its help, 93 percent of the state’s children are covered. She added, “The next logical step on the journey to universal health care in America is to finish the job for kids.”