Pages tagged "News Article"
Letter of the Day: Save children’s health insurance program
By Sandra G. Hassink, M.D., president, American Academy of Pediatrics; Mark Wietecha, president and CEO, Children’s Hospital Association; Ron Pollack, executive director, Families USA; and Bruce Lesley, president, First Focus Campaign for Children
Time is running out for Florida’s children: Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Florida KidCare in Florida) runs out on Sept. 30 if Congress doesn’t act first to extend it.
Just as importantly, with Florida’s Legislature scheduled to adjourn in May, policymakers need to know what Washington will do with the program. Families should not face uncertainty when it comes to their children’s health, and state governments should be able to effectively budget for the program before they adjourn for the year...
Read why @Campaign4Kids, children's advocates agree "Congress must act now to fund CHIP for 4 more years" http://bit.ly/191Mmoo #ExtendCHIP
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To Kick Off National Poison Prevention Week, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty Introduces Bill to Prevent Liquid Nicotine Poisoning
Today, to kick off National Poison Prevention Week, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty (CT-5) introduced the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act. Esty’s bill would require child safety packaging for all liquid nicotine containers, which are used to refill e-cigarettes.
Child-resistant packaging is already required for many household products, including over-the-counter medicines and cleaning agents, but there is no such requirement for liquid nicotine containers. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, local poison control centers received almost 4,000 calls related to liquid nicotine exposure in 2014. On December 9, 2014, a child from Fort Plain, New York, died after accidentally ingesting liquid nicotine...
TY @RepEsty for introducing Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act. I stand w/ @Campaign4Kids in supporting this bill to save young lives!
Tweet this now.Bolster federal funding on foster care
By Bruce Lesley
Nebraska’s progress on foster care (“Nebraska hits all 6 federal marks for protecting children — for the first time ever,” March 10 World-Herald) is encouraging. But Congress also has room for improvement.
The shrinking pool for federal foster care funding covers less than half of foster children today, and fewer by 2024. States tap funding for other social services, but that just shifts resources from one set of kids and families to another. Worse yet, inadequate federal funding shortchanges prevention efforts that help parents manage mental health, substance abuse, financial distress and other risk factors for abuse and neglect...
Time ticking away for Oklahoma's children
Time is running out for Oklahoma’s children: Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or “SoonerCare” as it’s known in Oklahoma, runs out on Sept. 30 if Congress doesn’t act first to extend it. More importantly, Oklahoma’s elected leaders need to know what Washington will do with the program soon so it can be incorporated into the budget before the legislative session’s scheduled adjournment on May 29. ...
Congress should adopt proposal to help foster kids
By Bruce Lesley
Sacramento is rightly pushing for reform of the overmedication of children in California's foster care system ("Senate panel examines why California foster care system 'addicted' to psychiatric drugs," Page 1A, Feb. 24). But Washington must also step up.
The president has proposed an initiative that would help states like California improve monitoring, so state officials can keep a closer eye on prescribing patterns. And it would reward states that reduce overprescribing and deliver improved mental health outcomes for kids in foster care...
More needs to be done for foster children
By Bruce Lesley
It's great that Carlsbad businesses are stepping up to help foster kids ("Pizza fundraiser to benefit kids in foster care," Feb. 24). But kids need a double-slice of leadership from Congress, too.
Federal foster care funding's shrinking pool covers less than half of foster children today, and fewer by 2024...
Rule reversal allows schools to bill Medicaid for services
By Daniel Gaitan
Due to an unexpected federal policy reversal sought by advocates for nearly 10 years, schools could start billing Medicaid for health services such as asthma screenings, vaccinations and care for chronic diseases provided to some low-income students.
“Clearing away the obstacle was a first step, but the next step is educating the public about it,” said Ed Walz, vice president of communications with the First Focus Campaign for Children, a nonprofit children’s advocacy organization...
Portman helps introduce Foster Care Services Act
U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) have introduced bipartisan legislation to improve foster care services for thousands of America’s most vulnerable youth. The Family-Based Foster Care Services Act increases access to quality care by clarifying Medicaid policy that directly affects foster children with special behavioral health needs and/or medical disabilities, as well as vulnerable children living with kinship and biological caregivers.
“This commonsense bill will allow vulnerable children to have better access to high-quality foster care,” Portman stated. “By improving health care and mental health services for kids with unique needs, we will provide a sense of stability for these children and better equip foster parents to care for them.”...
Now Is the Time for Action on Children's Health
By Bruce Lesley and Ron Pollack
Timing is everything, they say. And when it comes to extending federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, it’s absolutely true.
The last Congress didn’t get it done, but leaders on both sides of the Capitol committed to prioritizing action on CHIP early this year. Whether they can deliver is a test not only of the new Congress’ commitment to solving real problems for real people, but also of its ability to do anything of substance at all...
$77 billion a year to cut child poverty in half? A bargain, report says.
By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
When the Children’s Defense Fund went about putting together its latest report on child poverty in America, it did something new: It put a price tag on its proposals. To reduce child poverty by 60 percent in just a few years would cost $77 billion a year, it found.
That number probably makes the proposal a nonstarter on Capitol Hill. At a time when huge federal deficits are placing an emphasis on cutting rather than expanding, social policies have to meet a high bar to justify themselves economically. Those that don’t include some element of incentives for the poor to work rarely get through Congress’s front door. And people in poverty have less political influence because they vote and make political donations at much lower rates than wealthier peers...