I was pleased to be one of four legislators chosen to serve on the Healthy Kids Task Force, the group that made recommendations for the implementation of this critical effort. The new child health legislation targets those children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private coverage. Iowans want their children to be healthy and well educated. Although the task is challenging, providing health services to children is possibly the single best way the state can use its resources. A healthy child can learn better in school and has a better chance at becoming a successful and productive adult, and that's good news for the whole state.
Uninsured children are much more likely to suffer from preventable illnesses.
The majority of uninsured children with asthma, as well as one in three of those with recurring ear infections, never see a doctor during the year. The result is that children must be hospitalized for acute asthma attacks that could have been prevented, or they suffer permanent hearing loss from untreated ear infections. One in four uninsured children in our nation either uses the hospital emergency room as a regular source of health care or has no regular source of care. The state of Florida discovered that when parents were helped to buy coverage for uninsured children, children received most of their health care in doctors offices rather than hospital emergency rooms. Untreated illnesses in children severely impacts their school performance.