SAN FRANCISCO -- Four Bay Area Democratic Members of Congress joined local families to call for health insurance for the millions of children in the nation who are not covered. The Members called on Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich to add the issue of children's health insurance to his recently announced list of priorities for Congress.
The news conference coincided with the release today of a new report by Families USA that shows that the problem of uninsured children is more extensive than previously known. According to the report, 23 million children -- 3.4 million in California -- go without insurance for at least one month in a two year period. Earlier this month, the Children's Defense Fund reported that 10 million children have no health insurance at all.
"Cover the kids," the lawmakers said at a news conference outside the Phillip Burton Federal Building. "It is unconscionable that in America today, 10 million children are at risk because they don't have basic health care, and as many as 23 million are uninsured for some part of the year. The vast majority of the uninsured children live in families with working parents who earn too much for public assistance and too little for private health care. They play by the rules, work hard, spend time with their children, and still, their kids are at risk.
"The United States is the only major industrialized nation that does not guarantee that all its children receive routine and adequate medical attention needed for a healthy and productive childhood. Children with infections and injuries need treatment to avoid more damaging and costly problems. And even healthy children need routine visits to ensure proper growth."
Issuing the statement today were Reps. George Miller (Martinez), Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco), Anna Eshoo (Palo Alto) and Lynn Woolsey (Petaluma), who spoke at the news conference, as well as Reps. Pete Stark (Hayward), Ron Dellums (Oakland), Tom Lantos (San Mateo), and Zoe Lofgren (San Jose).
"We support covering all children," the lawmakers said. "And there are many ways to accomplish this. But it will be impossible without the political will to do so. The Democratic Families First agenda calls for covering all the kids. When Democrats asked Republicans to include this issue on the list of legislative priorities for the 105th Congress, they said No! Speaker Newt Gingrich and the House Republican leadership refuse to address this crisis. Today, we call on them to work with us to develop an affordable and effective means to guarantee that children receive the routine medical attention they need."
