Thursday, November 29, 2007

Health care should be as simple as a library card for kids

I've been mostly mute about my thoughts on health care access in this forum, as the great children's health care debate waged on this fall. But, if you have been reading between the lines (or if you've looked at my comments on other blogs), you probably know that I think that it's criminal for children (or anyone really) to go without health care in the United States. All children should have equal access to health care regardless of race, gender, religious or political affiliation and socioeconomic status. Simply put, I think that gaining access to health care should be as simple as getting a library card.
Unfortunately this is not the case in America.
When reporting on high school sports injuries, I was horrified to learn that Caleb Bailey, a teenage boy living in Commerce, was forced to weight more than six months to receive an operation on his torn meniscus because he no longer qualified for Peachcare.
“You feel trapped as a parent,” Don Bailey said. “You want to take care of your kids, but sometimes you have to weigh it all out. If you don’t have insurance, you are always praying that nothing does happen.”
The number of kids in Caleb’s position is rapidly increasing, said Brian Robinson, chairman of the secondary school committee for the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). His part of Illinois is relatively upper middle class, but “you would be amazed at the number of kids without health insurance,” he said.
On the other side of the country, Wes Wirkkala deals with the same perpetual sense of worry that the Bailey parents encounter each day. Despite bringing in annual salary of approximately $70,000, the Wirkkalas can't afford health care coverage for their children.
So I leave you with one final question. Regardless of what side of the political fence you sit on, shouldn't all children have access to health care?

2 comments:

Patricia Thomas said...

There's an old saying that societies should be judged by how they treat their oldest and youngest members. By that standard, the U.S. has plenty of room for improvement. And, like you, I don't think it speaks well for us that we turn our backs on adults with serious medical and dental needs.

Tabitha said...

Hmm . . this is disheartening. If these kids were my kids I wouldn't want them playing sports if I knew that they could be injured and not get what they need. Scary.