Leaders Across Colorado Unite To Urge U.S. Senators To Protect Medicaid Coverage For Children

AURORA, Colo., June 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With the U.S. Senate vote on the American Health Care Act (AHCA) expected next week, 39 leaders from across Colorado who represent all sides of the healthcare debate have submitted a co-signed letter to Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner, urging them to protect longstanding Medicaid coverage for children. A copy of the letter follows:

Dear Senator Bennet and Senator Gardner,

As the U.S. Senate takes up a major revamp of the American healthcare system in the coming weeks, division and polarization seem to be the most powerful forces shaping its deliberations. While there are legitimate and important differences of opinion about the proper course for healthcare reform, as leaders from around Colorado with diverse political viewpoints, we are writing to urge you in the strongest possible terms to resist the pull of polarization and find common values and objectives to drive toward together. For all our differences and divisions, there are areas of immutable agreement. At the top of that list is protecting the healthcare safety net for children.

And that is why we are writing—to urge you to protect longstanding Medicaid coverage for children. This coverage pre-dates the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but is impacted by the current version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). We hope that you are able to persuade your colleagues in the Senate to ensure those longstanding benefits are not impacted by the final version of the AHCA.

Since 1965, Medicaid has served as a vital safety net program for low-income children and children with disabilities, ensuring that kids get medically-necessary care. Today, half of those on Medicaid are children—more than 30 million kids nationwide, and about 550,000 in Colorado. The structural cuts to Medicaid in the AHCA would fundamentally threaten access to care for those children.

The bulk of the debate over Medicaid has centered on the future of the Medicaid expansion provided under the ACA. While this debate is clearly an important one, it does not and should not have any bearing on the historical healthcare commitment this nation has made to kids.

Whether the expansion is preserved or phased-out, Medicaid for children should be protected regardless. The tug of war over the Medicaid expansion should have no bearing on programs and services for children that pre-dated the Medicaid expansion by many decades. In short, children were not primary beneficiaries of the ACA, and they should not be major victims of its repeal.

No one would deny that there are serious issues emanating from both the ACA and the proposed AHCA, but in passing new legislation, we urge you to not harm our country's historical commitment to provide a safety net for children's medical needs. The signers of this letter come from all sides of the ACA debate, but we stand united in supporting critical coverage for Colorado's children who need it most.

We are lucky in Colorado to have two U.S. Senators who have become leaders in Washington based on the respect and goodwill they have earned from their colleagues. We urge you to utilize that influence and leadership to protect the most vulnerable among us.

Sincerely,

Media Contacts:
Elizabeth Whitehead, Children's Hospital Colorado
Pager: 303-890-8314

SOURCE Children’s Hospital Colorado