PEDIATRICIANS ENDORSE SENATOR KERRY'S CHILD HEALTH BILL
By Carol Berkowitz, M.D., AAP President

"The American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents the nation's pediatricians, is pleased to endorse Sen. John Kerry's legislation, Kids Come First Act, which aims to assure that every child in America has health insurance.

"Pediatricians know child health better than anyone. We know that providing access to quality health care for every child can help to prevent infectious diseases, obesity, heart disease and diabetes. We are urging Congress to come together and work in a bipartisan way this year to pass legislative solutions to fix the health care problems millions of children face. The American Academy of Pediatrics applauds Sen. Kerry for his leadership in this area.

"While we work on passing Sen. Kerry's legislation, we are also trying to protect both Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which together provide coverage to more than 30 million children in this country. Medicaid is facing serious funding cuts over the next 10 years based on the president's current budget proposal. It's an outrage that our most vulnerable population, our children, could lose health care services as a result."

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.