I am relatively new to the blogging world, but I already have some favorite blogs. The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families’ Child Health Policy Blog is one of them. Last week, Joan Alker did a great post that highlights the access issues with Medicaid that the children’s hospital community has worked so hard to raise in the health reform debate. The blog rightly highlights the access issues that need to be addressed in health reform to ensure that coverage equals access for children.
N.A.C.H. and children’s hospitals across the country have been working to ensure that health reform provides coverage for health care for more children, but also that the coverage provided results in children being able to get the right care at the right time at the right place. Today, physicians and hospitals that provide care to children receive inadequate reimbursement for their services, threatening the financial viability of the safety net for our nation’s children. Currently, Medicaid payments do not cover the cost of care, forcing many providers to limit the number of children that they see insured by Medicaid. A recent survey of children’s hospitals (which house the greatest concentration of pediatric specialists) shows tremendous delays in scheduling specialist visits, resulting in delayed care and increased emergency room visits.
Recent cuts to Medicaid at the state level will affect the future supply of pediatric specialists. Lower Medicaid reimbursements add an additional barrier for physicians choosing a field, resulting in long wait times for our most vulnerable children accessing needed services. States are in a bind, with low revenues and the requirement to balance their budgets. They do not want to do any harm, but their options for filling budget gaps are extremely limited after consecutive years of budget pressures. Congress and the administration need to make a federal investment in children’s health care that will result in better access to needed services. We are in a crucial week for health reform passage. Real health care reform needs to be enacted that works for children and improves their ability to access needed health care services at the right time in the right place.
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