It’s good that education – from early learning through college – is the Legislature’s top issue this year. Children are our future, and that future will be the most globally competitive in history.
It follows that our children must be ready to learn. And so it’s also good that Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed making serious progress this session on the state’s goal of having all children covered by health insurance by 2010.
We’ve already made good progress. In 1993, an estimated 11.4 percent of Washington children were uninsured. Last year, the estimate was down to 4.4 percent. That’s still around 73,000 kids with no coverage, though – kids at risk of unnecessary illnesses that leave them unable to learn effectively, and kids acting as a drain on the health-care system because they access it only after their conditions have become serious.
Gregoire’s proposal, which has broad support among doctors, nurses, health organizations and child advocates, aims to bring some 32,000 additional children under the protection of health coverage. It would make it easier for low-income families to apply for coverage (up to two-thirds of kids currently eligible for subsidized coverage aren’t even enrolled), use schools and other institutions to target and reach out to eligible families, increase the number of low-income families who are eligible for support to cover their kids, and improve access to care by raising pediatrician reimbursements to a reasonable level.
It also sets goals for schools to provide healthy food choices and ensure kids get ample time for physical activity.
The cost to the state – $30.8 million to expand the number of kids covered by insurance (an amount that would be matched by the federal government) and $15.8 million to increase Medicaid reimbursements for pediatric services (also matched by the feds).
When uninsured children get sick, they end up costing all of us more. When a parent brings a child with an earache to a hospital emergency room, they’re using the health-care system in the least efficient way possible. It’s estimated that the average cost of a single hospitalization for a preventable condition, like an earache, is enough to cover a child in the Medicaid program for two years.
Increasing physician payments is key, because current rates don’t cover their costs. In Snohomish County, only 5 percent of doctors will even accept new Medicaid patients. Connecting kids with a medical “home,” where health needs can be well-coordinated, is a key to maintaining good health and preventing serious problems.
A healthy society starts with healthy children. Getting all of them covered by 2010 must remain a priority, so the Legislature needs to make healthy progress toward that goal this session.
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