HEALTH CARE FOR CHILDREN Reform principles
William Considine, president and chief executive officer of Akron Children’s Hospital, was part of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals when the organization adopted principles it says are necessary to make health care reform work for children. Among the principles:
All children should have health coverage, from birth through age 21, through a mix of publicly subsidized and private health insurance.
Children’s coverage should be comprehensive and reflect their health and development and unique health care needs. It should provide a standard benefit floor that covers medically necessary care.
Affordable coverage should be available to all children, no matter where they live. Federal policies should move toward higher, uniform eligibility levels for guaranteed, publicly subsidized children’s coverage; and should ensure simple eligibility determinations based on income, not assets, as well as streamlined enrollment.
Children’s coverage should be continuous. Public and private coverage should work collaboratively to ensure that children always have coverage. Uniform eligibility policies and forms should assure that children do not lose coverage if their families move across state lines.
A national commitment to employer-sponsored insurance and a health care marketplace with multiple payers should be maintained. Reform should maximize choice of coverage and providers, as well as minimize “crowd-out” of privately financed insurance.
The federal government must play a leading role in health care reform for children. Universal coverage for children and system reforms to improve the delivery, quality and integration of their health care cannot be achieved on a state-by-state basis.
Even with successful health care reform, Medicaid’s indispensable role in meeting the long-term and community-based care needs of children must be continued. Medicaid has a unique role in meeting the many long-term and personal care needs of children with special health care needs, as well as for the frail elderly and people with disabilities. This role cannot be fully met by health care coverage.
Source: National Association of Children’s Hospitals