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VERMONT - MAY 29 - Senator Bernie Sanders - joined by the leader of the Children's Defense Fund Marian Wright Edelman - announced that he will introduce legislation to provide all children in the United States access to health care, including some 9 million children who are currently uninsured. "Vermont should be very proud that we are a leader in providing health care for children, but I want to take what Vermont has done and show the whole country that it is the right thing to do," Sanders said.
"How we take care of our children speaks to our very values as a society," said Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, who earlier introduced a companion bill (HR 1688) in the House. "Without health insurance, children and families suffer emotionally, physically, mentally and financially. We have the resources to pass the All Healthy Children Act, and with the help of my colleagues in the House and Senate all children will have health care coverage by next year," Scott said.
Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman said, "We know of at least three children who died this February and March from denied, delayed and inadequate dental and medical care. This should not happen in the United States of America. I applaud Senator Sanders for having the vision to make health and mental health care a reality for all children in America."
Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program have made progress over the past decade in improving children's health insurance.
Vermont has been a national leader in providing health care for children, but around the country chronic budget shortfalls, confusing enrollment processes, and dramatic variation in eligibility and coverage from state to state have prevented millions of eligible children from leading healthy lives and realizing their full potential in school and life.
The legislation Sanders will introduce when the Senate reconvenes next week would simplify and consolidate children's health coverage under a single program that guarantees all children all medically necessary services. In addition, the legislation:
Expands eligibility to all children with family incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level ($61,950 for a family of four.)
Guarantees coverage to children regardless of their state of residence.
Eliminates barriers to enrollment; applications for health care coverage would be short and simple to complete; and all states would adopt presumptive eligibility for children and pregnant women.
Increases provider rates to make sure that children have access to needed health care professionals.
Provides coverage to pregnant women with incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. Pregnant women are eligible for all medically necessary health and mental health services until at least 60 days after the birth of a child.
"As many Vermonters know, Marian Wight Edelman has been at the forefront of the struggle for children's rights for decades," Sanders said at the outset of a Burlington press conference that she joined by teleconference from Washington, D.C.
"There is a widespread perception in this state and in this country that America is moving in the wrong direction and that our national priorities are distorted. In other words, what most Americans perceive is that we are spending money in areas that we should NOT be spending, and are not investing in those areas that we SHOULD be investing," Sanders said.
"In my view, the clearest example of our distorted priorities is the way in which we treat our children. Frankly, I am a little bit tired of hearing people in Washington talk about "family values" and "moral values" when we continue to have, by far, the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world. There are countries in Europe where the rate of childhood poverty is less that 5 percent. In our country it is close to 20 percent.
"In 2005, almost 13 million children under 18 were poor and the number of children living in extreme poverty rose by 87,000 from 2004 to 2005 - in other words a bad situation is becoming worse.
"In 2005, an estimated 33 percent of the homeless population was children and an estimated 1.3 million kids in this country will experience homelessness this year.
"The surgeon general has reported that tooth decay has become the single most common chronic childhood disease - five times more common than asthma. Tooth decay among children in America - and we don't have enough dentists where we need them to treat children whose teeth are rotting in their mouths. What is wrong with that picture?
"In Vermont and across this country, quality childcare for our kids is largely unaffordable. While psychologists agree that the first few years of a child's life is extremely significant in shaping their intellectual and emotional well being, millions of
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