America’s Uninsured Children: Finding Health Insurance for Kids
According to recent studies by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, between 7 and 8 million children under the age of 18 are living without health insurance.
While this staggering figure is down from the reported 10 million uninsured children in 1997, the CDC maintains that this still-present epidemic stifles the health and growth of America’s children.
In fact, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports that one in three children go for an entire year without seeing a doctor.It’s not surprising that the health of children depend, in part, on their access to the health care system. And with the rising cost of health insurance, many families are simply not able to afford health coverage–leading to missed physician appointments, skipped prescription refills and lack of immunizations for our youngsters.
Bush’s Veto Threats Ignored – Bill Increasing Health Insurance Coverage to Texas Children Passed
President Bush’s threat to veto a bipartisan-supported bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program was ignored this week by Congress, who passed the measure.
Drafted over the last six months by senior members of the Senate Finance Committee, the bill is intended to cover the millions of children who will go uninsured if no action is taken when the program expires on September 30th.
Eight million children in the U.S. currently lack healthcare coverage, including more than 1.3 million in Texas alone, and 7.4 million are insured under the present program. If not vetoed, the new plan would reduce the number of uninsured children by half — 4.1 million — over the next five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.Texas, arguably, may be one of the states most affected by the outcome of changes to the CHIP, with 25% of its total population going without any health insurance whatsoever.
Healthy Kids Program – Health Insurance for Children
Children are most generally carefree, and rarely stop to think that their actions may get them hurt. In addition, kids love to be around other kids, and often share germs without even realizing it.
They share drinks, sneeze or cough in their hands, then touch the doorknobs at school, and they normally do not have any qualms about eating after one another.
These are only some of the many, many reasons why it is important to have health insurance for your child or children, even if it is one of the student plans offered by their schools.Single parenthood is rapidly becoming the norm, which can cause financial struggle and stress for the single parent. Many single parents want to keep health insurance for their children, but do not feel they can afford it. When cutting back expenses, health insurance is often one of the first things to go. However, no matter how costly health insurance can be, medical bills for an accident or illness can far surpass those costs.