Rally Planned Advocating Children's Health Reform
CHILDREN, PARENTS AND CHILD ADVOCATES HOLD RALLY AT McALLEN FANTASYLAND SKATE CENTER TO DEMAND THAT TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION DOES NOT LEAVE CHILDREN BEHIND IN HEALTH CARE REFORM.
WHAT: Children, parents, grandparents and other child advocates are taking their walking shoes and baby strollers to the Fantasyland Skate Center parking lot to raise a voice and demand that Congress ensure health reform legislation meets the needs of millions of uninsured and underinsured children in Texas.
Luisa Saenz, Texas-Rio Grande Valley Director, Children’s Defense Fund says that the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) earlier this year was a good start, but that 1.5 million uninsured children in Texas – and thousands more underinsured – need real health care reform. She says health reform legislation as drafted would not address the significant shortcomings for children of the current health care system, and that’s why participants in the stroller brigade rally will speak out loudly now while there is still time for Congress to act.
The Children’s Defense Fund and partnering organizations are engaged in an intensive effort with faith leaders, doctors and nurses, educators and others to call upon President Obama and Congress to do three things to ensure the health and well-being of America’s children:
- Significantly simplify the enrollment process for publicly funded health insurance, so that eligible children and their families will be able to easily secure government-sponsored coverage – much like the elderly through Medicare.
- Guarantee that every child receiving publicly funded health insurance has access to the full range of health and mental health benefits, rather than the current system that, in most states, provides more comprehensive benefits to the children on Medicaid than to those enrolled in CHIP.
- Ensure coverage is affordable for all children by providing a national health care safety net for all children whose family income is below 300 percent of poverty, to ensure they receive the health care they need and deserve.
Date & Location
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.
Fantasyland Skate Center Parking Lot
801 W. Dove, McAllen, Texas
Speakers
Adalia Del Bosque, RN McAllen ISD Director of Comprehensive School Health Services Parent of disabled 12 year-old child uninsured due to CHIP income limit Eric Rodriguez, Attorney & CDF-TX RGV Advisory Board Member
Contact
Luisa Saenz, lsaenz@cdftexas.org, 1-866-581- KIDS (5437) or (956) 648-6324