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US Health Care Faces Values, Priority Problems
Marian Wright-Edelman FAAAP (Honorary)
Putting America's children in the center of the health care reform debate will take a concerted, public effort on the part of adults who care about them, said Marian Wright-Edelman, MD, FAAP (honorary), founder of the Children's Defense Fund, at the Sunday's AAP NCE plenary session.
"We won't win unless we raise a ruckus," she said. "We cannot afford NOT to do it." She issued a call for a "Stroller Brigade" to come to the Capitol on November 4 to make children visible to lawmakers who are crafting the health care reform legislation.
The Children's Defense Fund is working to include three components into the health care reform bill: The system must be simple and seamless; benefits must be comprehensive; and coverage must be affordable, with a national safety net of 300 percent of the poverty level to qualify for coverage.
"I never realized that it would be so hard to get the richest nation on Earth, that tends to be a place that believes in an equal playing field, to get us to do what is right and cost-effective," Dr Wright-Edelman said. "No other nation on Earth allows its children to be its poorest age group."
The tools and knowledge to solve the problems related to child poverty — poor health, substandard education, lack of family resources, exposure to violence — can be solved if people who support children speak up, she said.
"We do not have a money problem in the United States of America," she said. "We have a values problem and a priority problem."
Listen to Marian Wright Edelman's 20 minute talk by clicking HERE. Please be patient while the file downloads. The file will download from the AAP webserver and open with a screen that allows you to start and stop the audio file with your mouse from your screen. Your PC does not need any special software to receive the download or for you to hear the audio. Be inspired by her language and presentation as those of us privileged to be in the audience for her live presentation at the NCE were at the time.
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