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This document was created by the Consumers Union Washington D.C. office.
June 24, 1997
Dear Senator:
As you begin the process of allocating the dollars in the budget resolution that will be targeted at providing health coverage for uninsured children, we urge you pay careful attention to the simple fact that children's needs are unique; they are not little adults. While the debate will likely continue as to the specifics of a bipartisan consensus plan to cover children and adolescents, there is a least, in our opinion, one idea that is not in their best interest and that is Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) targeted at families of uninsured children as a way of expanding coverage.
MSAs are bad for families of uninsured children for two major reasons: a) the majority of uninsured children are in families who earn $31,000 or less per year, whose disposable income is marginal, at best; and b) they discourage the use of preventive health services, by incorporating policies with high deductibles that specifically exclude such services, and only apply to catastrophic events. All MSAs can guarantee for these families is that their children will be underinsured, unless they pay out-of-pocket for age-appropriate preventive services. To promote a system that does not take advantage of cost-effective services that will more than likely prevent the high-cost catastrophic events shortchanges these families.
We do not need to create a generation of Humpty-Dumpty kids. Catastrophic only coverage places our youngest citizens at risk of finally entering the health care system at a time when the very best that the medical community has to offer will be too lateCwe can't fix it, the damage is done. Even a subtle shift in a child's normal development can have life-long implications. Compared to adults, children are more likely to experience an acute episode of illness and are less likely to need care for a chronic condition. Children require comprehensive coverage and a solution that fails to include preventive care will not meet children's needs.
We urge you to reject this concept as proposed.
AIDS Action Council
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Network of Community Options and Resources
American Public Health Association
Center on Disability and Health
Church Women United
Committee for Children
Communications Workers of America
Consumers Union
Families USA
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Gray Panthers
International Union, UAW
International Union of Electric Workers, IUE
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Evangelic Lutheran Church in America
National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils
National Association of Pyschiatric Treatment Centers for Children
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Social Workers
National Education Association
National Parent Network on Disabilities
National Women's Health Network
Neighbor to Neighbor
NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Older Womens League
The ARC
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United Cerebral Palsy Associations
United Church of Christ, Office for Church in Society
Women's Legal Defense Fund
