President Donald Trump created the Make America Healthy Again Commission, to be led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The goal will be to “produce a strategy, based on the findings of the assessment, to improve the health of America’s children.”
It’s an important goal and a worthy concern. But before we try to delve into the root causes of health problems, we should consider how we learn about those problems and how we heal them. The best thing we can do to keep children healthy is to make sure they have health care to begin with.
As an earlier federal report noted, “Children without health insurance coverage are less likely to receive appropriate treatment for conditions like asthma or critical preventive services such as dental care, immunizations, and well-child visits that track developmental milestones.” There is no need for this new commission to try to reinvent that wheel. Nobody doubts that children need insurance so they can see a doctor, be treated for chronic problems, and stay healthier.
Many of today’s children are getting the coverage they need because of Medicaid.
Medicaid, the joint federal-state program, covers 27 million children in the United States. The program gives these children access to doctors, testing, and follow-up that their parents simply couldn’t afford on their own. It is saving lives.
And Medicaid particularly helps the most vulnerable. Medicaid covers nearly half of children with special health care needs. The care it provides is so good that families with only Medicaid (not supplemented by a parent’s private insurance) report that their benefits always meet their children’s needs, including behavioral health needs. It’s a positive reflection of Medicaid’s deep benefit package.
Medicaid saves these families money as well. The parents of children with special health care needs who are on the federal program say their health care is more affordable than parents with private insurance do. That is because Medicaid works hard to hold costs down and protect recipients from overcharges.
The program also benefits those facing the direst possible prognosis. Medicaid provides coverage to 1 in 3 children at the time of their cancer diagnosis. That means the disease was discovered because the children have coverage through Medicaid. Talk about a way to improve health outcomes! As the American Cancer Society wrote, “Children and parents can get healthy and stay healthy because they can access doctors for check-ups, preventive screenings, and manage chronic conditions.”
This makes it concerning that the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees health entitlement programs, was told to cut $880 billion this year. Because this committee deals with Medicaid, it is expected to make deep cuts in the program, even though Trump himself, who clearly has good political instincts, vowed to “love and cherish” Medicaid.
Members of Congress get this as well. “I ran for Congress under a promise of always doing what is best for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Rep. Rob Bresnahan said. “If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it.” He notes that more than 200,000 people in his district -- one in four -- rely on Medicaid.
Moderate Republican Rep. David Valadao also sees the problem. “There’s a lot of us, even leadership themselves, I think a lot of their districts are in the same boat as mine or close to it,” Valadao said, noting he is very much watching what his party tries to do to preserve Medicaid.
Medicaid is viewed favorably by 77% of Americans, with support cutting across political, racial, and geographical economic lines. Voting to slash the program seems like a surefire way for a congress member to lose the next election.
There is waste and abuse throughout the government. Getting rid of that would be a good first step. “The Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog agency, estimates that the U.S. government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion each year due to fraud and improper payments,” as Reuters reported.
Medicaid is personal and shouldn’t be political. If it is slashed, health outcomes will be worse. Lawmakers don’t need RFK’s commission to recognize that Americans can’t afford to lose Medicaid. They just need common sense.
Rich Tucker is a writer and editor based in Richmond, Virginia. His work is found at https://richardbriantucker.substack.com/.
