Children’s Coverage in Health Reform
The national health reform debate has proved challenging for children’s health advocates who, on one hand support affordable comprehensive coverage for all Americans, but are also committed to protecting the hard-fought gains in coverage and cost protections for children in CHIP and Medicaid. As policymakers negotiate the merging of the two bills, we wanted to present a range views and enough specifics on children’s coverage provisions to fill you in on some of the major concerns and potential benefits of the proposed legislation.
The New York Times Prescriptions Blog post “Program for Children Has Uncertain Future” provides a nice summary of some of the most pressing concerns regarding the future of CHIP.
The additional links below provide greater detail on the wide range of advocacy perspectives on the House and Senate proposals impact children’s coverage.
- December First Focus Report – “Children in Health Reform: Comparing CHIP to the Exchange Plans”
- First Focus Health Reform Resources
- December Center on Budget & Policy Priorities – “Vast Majority of Children Would Be As Well Off or Better Off Under House Health Bill Than Under Current Law”
We also recommend checking out Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CFF) as an excellent resource for policy expertise and advocacy:
- Georgetown’s Center Children and Families website on health reform
- CFF Children’s Health Policy Blog: Say Ahhh!
