Opinion> Hillary Clinton> Talking It Over 1998 02 24

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Talking It Over

Think about the children you know or come in contact with every day. Do any of them have parents who work but cannot afford health insurance? Do any of them qualify for Medicaid but for whatever reason don't receive it?

Last week, I met just such a family. Linda Havemann is a full-time homemaker in Williamsburg, Va. Her husband, Tom, has a good job working as a mechanic for a construction company, but they cannot afford health insurance for their sons Raymond, 6, Michael, 3, and Andrew, 18 months. The two youngest have suffered with ear infections since birth, but they've never had regular doctor's visits because they don't have insurance.

I'm sure every parent can remember feeling panicked and helpless sitting up with a sick child. I can. Imagine how you would feel if, when your child had a temperature or an ear infection, you couldn't call a doctor.

This is what Linda and Tom had to live with until a Salvation Army social worker informed them that Michael and Andrew were eligible for Medicaid. When the Havemanns finally took the boys to the doctor, they found that Andrew had already lost 20 percent of his hearing and that his speech was delayed. Two weeks ago, after surgery to insert tubes in his ears, he said his first words: "Mama," "Dada," "bubble" and "shoe."

That's the good news, but the bad news is that 6-year-old Raymond is too old to qualify for Virginia's Medicaid program. In an effort to help states extend health coverage to 5 million children in Raymond's shoes, last year's balanced budget agreement included a $24 billion initiative. Called the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, this program targets children of working families who do not qualify for Medicaid.

There is no excuse in this country for children to go without proper medical care. And yet, 10 million American children — that's one in seven — do. Three million of these, like Michael and Andrew, are eligible for Medicaid, but for a variety of reasons, their parents don't enroll them. Some don't know they qualify. Some can't deal with the complex enrollment forms. Others are simply ashamed to ask for help.

We must do everything we can to find and enroll those kids who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP.

We can pass all the laws we want, but if parents don't know their children are eligible, or if they can't or won't fill out the forms, these laws will never fulfill their promise.

Last week, the President announced a series of initiatives that will help. First, he ordered federal agencies to develop a national outreach program — distributing information, coordinating toll-free numbers, and simplifying the application process.

To complement this effort, he also described some extraordinary contributions from the private sector. Within a month, Bell Atlantic will have up and running a toll-free number to help states enroll uninsured children. Safeway will print the number on all its shopping bags, and chain drug stores will provide it to their customers.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation together will spend $23 million to research, design and fund outreach initiatives, and Pampers will offer information about available health insurance options in its childbirth education packages, which are given to 90 percent of first-time mothers.

This administration is committed to making sure that every American has access to adequate and affordable health care. In 1996, the President signed a law that keeps an estimated 25 million Americans from losing their insurance if they change jobs, are self-employed or have pre-existing medical conditions.

And just last week, he signed a directive ensuring that everyone covered by a federal health plan — fully a third of all Americans — will be protected by a Patient's Bill of Rights. And he announced a new initiative to eliminate, by the year 2010, the disturbing disparities in infant mortality, diabetes, cancer testing and treatment, heart disease, AIDS and immunization among various ethnic and racial groups in this country.

But no goal is more important than providing adequate medical care to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Everyone can help. Besides social workers, we need doctors and nurses to inform parents about programs available for their kids. In addition, teachers, guidance counselors and coaches, neighbors and friends, camp counselors and mentors, tutors and members of the clergy — everyone in the village — can be on the lookout for children in need.

The health and well-being of our children is everybody's concern. If we work together, our efforts will help assure that America's children get the healthy start they need to live long and productive lives.