TomPaine.com
Friday 11 May 2007
The steady stream of advertisements for chocolates, flowers and gift certificates remind us that it's Mother's Day once again. Dads and children everywhere are looking for that perfect gift to thank Mom for all her hard work and sacrifice. So, what do we buy for Mom? Imagine, for a moment, if we could give our mothers a higher wage, affordable child care, or even a more flexible work schedule this Sunday? Or what if we could honor Mom with the gift of affordable health insurance?
This weekend, thousands of mothers, children, and health care providers will descend on their representatives' district offices to rally for just that: a major increase in the State Children's Health Insurance Program. SCHIP provides coverage for the millions of uninsured families that consistently fall through the cracks - making too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford skyrocketing health care costs. In the coming months, Congress will have the opportunity to increase SCHIP and make the largest commitment to health care in this country since 1996.
What could be a better gift for mothers who have to worry about how they will pay for their children's next doctor's visit?
After working 16 hour days, juggling finances, coordinating child care and negotiating time off of work to tend to sick children, many mothers are dealing with an even greater fear: they are one broken arm, one car accident, or one asthma attack away from financial ruin. Today, more than 9 million U.S. children are uninsured and that number is steadily growing.
Far too often, crises drive the choices our mothers make and luck the outcomes. Take Kelly Mitchell, a Minnesota hospital worker who had to choose between health insurance to cover her own prenatal care or insurance for her 4-year-old son. As a result of a complicated pregnancy, Kelly "chose" to insure herself. And she got lucky. Her son remained healthy, leaving her only $4,000 in the red. Margaret Navarrete wasn't so lucky. Making just $300 too much to qualify for health insurance assistance, her uninsured son's emergency surgery left the family nearly $45,000 in debt.
Not surprisingly, our mothers take on a disproportionate share of our nation's health care burden. No matter how impossible the challenge or how great the sacrifice, our mothers always seem to come up with a solution. But is this what we want? On average, American parents spend three times more on health care than their counterparts in the United Kingdom and France - and it's still inadequate. Far too many American families are forced to forgo medical treatment in order to save their house or keep food on the table. This is wrong and fundamentally un-American. A major overhaul of the U.S. health care system is critical and long overdue.
In the meantime, while we work for universal health coverage in this country, the State Children's Health Insurance Program will eliminate many sleepless nights. If passed, millions of currently uninsured kids will be able to get those vaccines, visit a dentist, and receive regular check ups. And when you consider the alternative - the average $11,500 annual fee for a family health care plan - it shed's a new light on the $16 billion that Americans will spend on Mother's Day this year.
This Mother's Day, let's think about all those mothers that have to make the choice between paying the electric bill and going grocery shopping or taking a sick child to the doctor's office. While there are many ways to show our mothers how much we love them this Sunday, let's not forget the gift of ensuring quality health care for their children. Our mothers and our American families deserve it.
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