A child with health insurance is more likely to see a doctor for primary care than a child without health insurance; thus, this child will establish habits of uninsurance routine check-ups. With consistent doctor visits, a child’s development could be monitored closely and increase the possibility of detecting health problems at early stages. This point is absolutely crucial– in a vast majority of cases, insurance for children increases access to care which increases the monitoring of a child’s development and thus allows for early detection (or even avoidance!) of potential health problems.

The IOM study continues that uninsured children are more apt to receive no or late care and consequently make ER visits for conditions that could have (and should have!) been treated in an outpatient/primary care visit. Common health conditions such as asthma, ear infections, g.i. infections, and even pneumonia can all be managed with better significantly better prognoses if they are detected at early stages.

In addition, ER visits put an incredible financial burden on the children and their families who are probably already financially stressed if they can’t afford health insurance for family members. The economic hardship is passed onto Hospitals because of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and thus forces hospitals to uncomfortably flex their budgets (this detracts from hospital spending to fix the ‘overworked underpaid’ problem’… that’s another issue) . The ER visits become more frequent and more expensive (for both families and hospitals) for uninsured children that have misdiagnosed/undiagnosed chronic conditions such as diabetes.

An entire family suffers with a sick child. Imagine the economic and emotional stress a family must experience to take care of a child’s health condition– especially, if that condition could have been treated at an earlier stage or even avoided with proper health education and monitoring via a primary care visit? How does a single parent manage?

[ To those who strictly believe in 'individualism' and 'pulling yourself up by your bootstraps' -- well, the way our government is structure, the people that 'can't' do that end up costing you more.]

While programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP have made improvements in a child’s access to health care, according the 2004 data a majority of the 8 million uninsured children are eligible but are not enrolled in such programs. It is logical to wonder why– most likely because their parents/guardians are not insured or poor information about the programs.

Collectively we need to do a better job of protecting the children- they are the future. We need to increase efforts of preventative and primary for children, because they are going to grow up into adults and their health problems and disparities are only going to magnify as they start their own families. We need to concentrate on setting a good example for children now in terms of preventative habits and establishing what the IOM study refers to as a “medical home”. Routine visits give a physician more face time with a patient and more chances to develop a meaningful patient-doctor relationship. Ultimately this leads to a clearer avenue towards improved quality care.

If health care reform is supposed to improve our future, then what better place to start with than our children?