Campaign Seeks to Raise Public Awareness About Uninsured Children

A new campaign seeks to raise a public outcry to make comprehensive, consistent health care coverage for all children a top priority for the country’s leaders.

Despite the fact that more than 9 million American children have no health insurance, most people are unaware of the problem, say proponents of the Campaign for Children’s Health Care. When asked to describe the uninsured, only 13 percent of respondents said that children came to mind, according to survey results released at a July 11 press briefing at the National Press Club to announce the launch of the campaign.

“America's most vulnerable citizens, our children, are woefully neglected in a health care system that focuses on treatment rather than maintaining good health and preventing diseases,” said AAFP President Larry Fields, M.D., in a statement released at the briefing.

Lack of access to health care leads to multiple problems, including more severe acute and chronic illness in childhood, difficulties in school and worsening health in later years, according to the statement.

“Health care is about more than just delivering vaccinations … It’s also about building a medical home,” said Matthew Levy, M.D., M.P.H., a Washington, D.C., physician, speaking at the briefing on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The current, fragmented system of coverage can make it very difficult for physicians to build a trusting relationship with children, Levy added.

Children often cycle on and off of public coverage through either Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, creating gaps in coverage and making continuity of care a significant challenge.

“I see a lot of the families every day, and many of them don’t realize that they have been disenrolled from the programs. Some of our families are fairly transient,” said Levy.

The campaign’s partners, including the Academy, hope to focus new attention on SCHIP, which comes up for reauthorization next year. Although the program is popular and has been deemed largely successful, advocates would like to see it expanded to encompass all children who do not have access to other forms of health insurance.

Town hall meetings and grassroots efforts will help raise public awareness, according to Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a national health care consumer advocacy organization. He noted that the Campaign for Children's Health Care Web site would be used to collect signatures on an online petition to be delivered to Congress next year when that body begins to discuss SCHIP reauthorization.

Although children are relatively inexpensive to cover, the cost of expanding insurance to include 9 million youngsters will still require billions of new federal dollars. However, there is bang for the buck, Georges Benjamin, M.D., executive director of the American Public Health Association, told attendees at the briefing.

“The truth of the matter is that the federal government already pays a lot of money for health insurance. Unhealthy kids become unhealthy adults. So if it was my money -- and, by the way, it is my money -- I would prefer to invest in kids so that I could spend less when they become adults,” said Benjamin.

Expanding eligibility will not be the only goal of reform efforts. Both SCHIP, which covers about 4 million children, and Medicaid, which covers about 25 million, have suffered in recent years from diminishing physician payment rates and increasing paperwork burdens.

“America's family physicians believe it will take the voices of the people to build the health care system we want and need," said Fields. "The Campaign for Children's Health Care will help make those voices heard."