AAP Statement on Health Care Freedom Act

By: Fernando Stein, MD, FAAP, President, American Academy of Pediatrics

"The American Academy of Pediatrics is grateful for the Senate’s decision not to advance the Health Care Freedom Act. The bill included dangerous policies that would have left children and families worse off and set the stage for drastic cuts to Medicaid and private insurance.

“A child with congenital heart disease, a previously uninsured parent now covered through Medicaid expansion, and a toddler needing routine immunizations were all at risk under this bill, and today, their families do not have to face an uncertain future. Because of the persistent, unprecedented advocacy of pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists weighing in with what children need in the health care debate, children were heard.

“Our work is not over. We turn now toward new opportunities for bipartisan solutions that keep children and families covered. We turn now to the looming reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a bipartisan success story providing coverage for nearly 9 million children. We turn now toward other pressing issues that matter for children, like child welfare reform, with renewed resolve.

“Those who have the most at stake in the health care debate are those without access to a ballot box or a microphone: children themselves. They are who we fought to protect and who we will continue to advocate for as this process unfolds.”

###

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 66,000 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. For more information, visit www.aap.org and follow us on Twitter @AmerAcadPeds.