John Kerry’s “Kids Come First” Act
In these times when paying a living wage is a corporate sin, John Kerry makes a stand for helping uninsured children. In an email today, he asks for people to co-sponsor the “Kids Come First Act”. Check it out.
Dear Friend,
Please join me in co-sponsoring the Kids Come First Act on johnkerry.com.
http://www.johnkerry.com/KidsFirst
Every parent knows the fear of waking up to the cries of a sick baby or a child with an ear infection that will not go away. As parents, we both remember the countless times we called that first pediatrician to get answers to every last question.
But far too many parents have another fear, on top of their child’s health. They worry that a sick child means financial ruin. There are more than eleven million uninsured children in our nation. These children are less likely to get a routine checkup, or to get treatment for common ailments like asthma. They miss more days of school. It is a disgrace that eleven million children lack health insurance in the richest nation on earth.
On Monday, the first legislative day of the new Congress, I introduced, S.114, the “Kids Come First Act of 2005.” It’s a bold plan to provide health insurance for every child in America. Under this proposal, the federal government will pay the full costs for all poverty-level children enrolled in Medicaid program. In return, we will ask states to expand coverage to children in families with higher incomes than are currently eligible, as well to make enrollment into these programs simpler, automatic, and more continuous. This plan will expand coverage to as many as eleven million children and will provide much needed relief for states that are struggling under persistent growing budgetary pressures.
But if we are to be successful in covering every child in America, we must also help families meet their parental obligation and responsibility to get their children insured. My bill requires parents to insure their children and show proof of their coverage each year when they file taxes if they want to keep the full amount of their federal child tax credit. But in addition to this requirement, the bill sets forth meaningful policy changes to help families achieve these goals by: allowing higher-income parents an option to buy-in to the state child health insurance program; allowing some parents to get a state subsidy to help pay the premiums on their employer’s health plan for children; and providing tax credits to maintain coverage affordability by assuring that no family pays more than 5 percent of their annual income on health care for their children.
Many of you have already joined me in signing an on-line pledge of support for this program. And for that I am truly grateful. Now that we have legislative language and a bill number, I have another request for you. We need to build grassroots support and momentum behind this bill. George Bush and his Republican colleagues in the Congress already stole more than $1 billion in child health funding that was promised to the states late last year. That would have been enough funding to cover an additional 750,000 children, yet Bush turned a blind eye to Democrats’ requests to extend the funding.
We can only break through with the help of your voices. Please call your Senators today and ask that they cosponsor S. 114, the “Kids Come First Act of 2005.” Every additional name we add on to this bill is just one step closer we get to putting it on the President’s desk for signature.
Thank you in advance for sharing with me the common vision that there no longer be any uninsured children in America.
January 31st, 2005 at 2:28 pm
Thought you might be interested in this: http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/Press/kids1.htm
December 15th, 2005 at 1:32 am
I think the kids come first act is great and will be great help to many as health insurance to children is of much importance.