Home > Bush Policies Bad for Kids, Child Experts Say
By Maggie Fox
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three dozen eminent pediatricians and social workers attacked the Bush administration on Wednesday for policies they said leave too many children without health insurance.
The doctors, including some well-known authors of manuals for parents and professionals, said they were taking the unusual step because they were worried about the state of U.S. health care.
"The Bush administration’s policies are moving us away from effective and longstanding federal commitments that improved the health of children, commitments proudly initiated and supported by previous Republican and Democratic presidents," reads their statement, signed by 36 child experts.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson defended government policies in unusually strong language.
"It is absurd and despicable that doctors are playing politics with children’s lives," Thompson said in a statement.
"Under President Bush’s leadership, childhood vaccination rates are at an all-time high, more children than ever have health insurance through SCHIP, and we have moved aggressively to expand prenatal care for poor women. This is a record to be celebrated — not criticized by demagogues driven by partisan politics."
The statement by the child experts said that the Bush administration’s policies would erode decades of hard-won health gains for children, "while still leaving unaddressed such critical problems as child abuse, mental health, and alcohol and other drug abuse."
The statement echoed concerns expressed by many health professionals — that the lack of a coherent U.S. health plan is leaving too many people without health care. This is costing more in the long run, they argue, as such people tend to get treated in expensive emergency rooms once their health problems reach a crisis.
The doctors, who include bestselling writer Dr. T. Berry Brazelton of Harvard University and former American Academy of Pediatrics president Dr. Joel Alpert of Boston University, were sponsored by Vote Kids, a nonprofit group that rates members of Congress based on their votes on child-related issues.
They endorsed President Bush’s Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
"We embrace Senator Kerry’s straightforward goal: every child, indeed every American, should have the same affordable health care that is available to every member of Congress and senior government official," they said.
Census bureau figures show 45 million Americans had no health insurance coverage in 2003. Another nonprofit group, Families USA, said this week that 85.2 million people went without health insurance for some time during 2003 and 2004.
The pediatricians group said this latter number included 27 million children — despite programs like the federally backed State Child Health Insurance Program, which they said has suffered due to the Bush administration’s tax and budget policies.
"In the president’s home state of Texas alone, nearly 150,000 children of working class families have been dropped from the State Child Health Insurance Program, leaving them without any insurance."
Forum posts
4 October 2004, 00:51
Let’s see.......Health care for families, or profits from making war????? Gee what a hard decision for Bushco..... anyone like to guess which choice they are making???