Liberal in the Land of Conservative

Your turn: In U.S., every child deserves health care
By John J. Sweeney National AFL-CIO President and
Louis Neuman Central Minnesota AFL-CIO Trades and Labor President

Published: November 12. 2007 12:30AM

The single most compelling reason to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program is also the simplest: It's the right thing to do.

In America, every child should have a fair shot at growing up to be an astronaut, a ballet dancer, a firefighter or president of the United States. No child should be forced to give up these dreams because of health problems that could be managed or prevented with proper care.

In America, every child should have health care.

That wasn't a good enough reason for Minnesota's U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann who has now voted three times against full funding for children's health.

She and others threw out numerous excuses for why they were voting against children's health care when the issue was first raised and again when their support was needed to override President Bush's vetoes. Supporters of SCHIP revised the legislation to address those concerns.

What supporters didn't change is the scope of the effort. The latest version of the children's health insurance legislation would still cover 10 million children — all the children already covered and 4 million more who are uninsured. That figure includes 2,229 in Minnesota who are covered and 31,100 more.

Bachmann apparently does not consider taking care of America's children a priority. She didn't want to spend the money. That's a short-sighted view that overlooks a powerful fiscal argument for covering children.

Prevention makes good economic sense. In today's twisted health care marketplace, it's about the only thing that does.

Fewer and fewer employers are offering health coverage to their workers and increasingly, those who are offered health insurance at work can't afford to buy it. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that health insurance premiums rose at almost double the rise in either workers' wages or inflation. Millions of working families live one broken bone or asthma attack away from financial ruin or worse, and our nation's economy is paying the price.

The health status of those enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program has improved. Children with coverage are having fewer asthma attacks and therefore winding up in the (expensive) emergency room a lot less. Studies have even shown that children enrolled in SCHIP saw a notable improvement in school performance and attendance. For education to make a difference in the life of a child, that child has to be healthy enough to show up for school and pay attention. An educated work force is vital to today's information economy.

The economic list goes on. Medical costs are responsible for as many as half the about 1 million personal bankruptcies filed each year. Businesses lose productivity when working parents have to stay home with sick children. Today's unhealthy child is, without intervention, tomorrow's chronic disease patient.

The bottom line is there is no excuse for Bachmann's latest vote against children. ...

Bachmann has shown us where she stands — far outside the mainstream and right next to President Bush.

48.
Simon Sez from Northside
Comment Posted: 11/12/2007 11:58:30 AM

Simon Sez, the scamming Frost family is more the rule than the exception.

And Farm Subsidies continue to get mentioned: