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Healthy
Communities Human
Rights Civic
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A healthy community is one in which children
and their parents have access to affordable health care, including preventative
care, where children receive quality education that begins before elementary school,
and children are safe from harm. In a health community, everyone is invested and
involved, and neighbors work together to discourage crime and drug use. Health
Care Our communities cannot be healthy if our children
and their families are not healthy. Unfortunately, access to health care is not
considered a right in this country, but a privilege. While all other developed
nations guarantee their citizens access to health care, in the U.S. such access
is treated as a commodity. Families that do not have employer-based
health insurance either rely on Medicaid or they end up using hospital emergency
rooms as their primary care providers. When the only doctor they see is in the
E.R. families get little or no preventative care. This not only makes health care
more expensive for everyone, but it costs the nation in terms of an increased
spread of contagious illness, and lost work productivity and time in school. This
also means that we have a whole sub-class of citizens - nearly a quarter of all
New Mexicans - whose quality of life is compromised on every level because they
do not have health insurance. Not only do the uninsured pay medical expenses out-of-pocket,
but they are also charged higher rates because they lack the bargaining power
of large insurance corporations. More than 80,000 children in New Mexico do not
have health insurance. Of those children that have health insurance, 40 percent
receive it through Medicaid- the health insurance program for low-income children,
disabled and elderly. .
But recent federal and state tax cuts have led to
a decrease in Medicaid funding. On top of that, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
limited the kinds of documents that are acceptable when applying for Medicaid
or recertifying. The amendment was meant to keep undocumented immigrants from
receiving Medicaid benefits - even though the U.S. Health and Human Services Department
had already determined that very little, if any, of that sort of fraud was going
on.In the 2004 legislative session, our state's policy makers reduced funding
for Medicaid. As a result, thousands of children have lost their health care coverage
and for the first time in years, Medicaid enrollment dropped, while the number
of uninsured children increased. The 2005 legislature failed to restore enough
funding to reverse this trend, but . in 2006, we won a major battle when we got
the state Legislature to fully fund Medicaid. Medicaid is
good medicine for New Mexico's economy. For every dollar the state spends on Medicaid,
we receive $3 from the federal government - tripling our initial investment every
year. A $1 million investment of state dollars generates an additional $3 million
federal match and creates 80 jobs across the state - many in rural areas. Reduced
spending on health weakens the infrastructure that enables businesses to function.
Children and adults who are healthy miss less school and less work. New
Mexico Voices for Children supports these policies: - Guaranteed
health care for everyone. Europe has proven that it's not only possible, but it
can be far better and less expensive than our health-care system. Nor does universal
health care have to be the government-run single-payer systems of Canada and England.
Since Congress is unwilling to take on this issue, it is incumbent for the state
of New Mexico to do so.
- Adequate funding for Medicaid and no additional
cuts in eligibility or benefit levels. New State Investment Needed: $94,400,000.
- Provide
funding to mandate continuous Medicaid enrollment for all eligible newborn babies
until the child's second birthday. Such a policy would assure that the child gets
off to a healthy start and has all immunizations, screenings and well-baby checkups.
New State Investment Needed: Less than $1 million.
- Expand Medicaid
eligibility to the low-income parents of eligible children (whose income is less
than the federal poverty threshold). Studies show that children's access to health
care is greatly improved when their parents are insured. New State Investment
Needed: $30,000,000.
- Expand the number of school-based health centers
(SBHCs), particularly in rural areas of the state, and grant them adequate funding.
Children don't learn when they are at home sick and they are more likely to access
health care when it is in a familiar setting. Parents do not lose any authority
over their child's health care and don't have to take time off from work so their
children can see a doctor.
- Maintain the current level of funding
for tobacco prevention initiatives for young people. Our investment in tobacco
prevention is producing results, saving health care dollars, and should be maintained
at current levels. No new money required.
- A Clean Indoor Air Act,
which would prohibit smoking in restaurants in New Mexico. Evidence clearly indicates
the dangers of second hand smoke to all of us, especially young children.
- Increase the tax on smokeless tobacco. Tobacco taxes were increased years
ago, but chewing tobacco was exempted. This tax would be added to smokeless tobacco
products only. The tax would help to deter use by young people and raise revenues
for medical care for those harmed by using tobacco products.
New Mexico Voices for Children opposes this policy:
- The criminalization
of tobacco use by underage youth. While Voices acknowledges that young people
should not be using tobacco products, we do not believe that criminalizing children
is an effective or appropriate action.
Education An
investment in early childhood development pays off. Children who participate in
quality early childhood education show better academic performance all through
school and higher earnings as adults. Read our most recent report on the payoff
associated with quality early childhood education programs, Improving
Infant and Toddler Education and Care in New Mexico. New Mexico
Voices for Children supports these policies: - Investment in quality
early childcare and education - which could include a complete phase-in of a new
universal, voluntary pre-kindergarten program for four-year-olds.
- Restoration
of eligibility for childcare assistance to families whose income is less than
200% of the federal poverty level (FPL). In 2001, childcare assistance was reduced
from 200% FPL to 100% FPL. Governor Richardson promised to restore eligibility
to 200%, but has only raised it to 150% FPL. As a result, thousands of working
families with small children are struggling to afford quality childcare. The small
amount of funding necessary to restore eligibility to all low-income families
is a smart investment. New State Investment Needed: $14,000,000.
- Expand
the pilot project for home visiting in Luna County, which provides voluntary home
visits by a nurse for first-time parents until their newborn is one, has proven
very successful. Such home visiting programs provide huge cost savings in health
care and education. New State Investment Needed: $500,000 - 1,300,000
- Increased
support for out-of-school programs such as service learning and community volunteerism,
to provide greater opportunities for young people. New State Investment Needed:
$1,000,000 - 2,000,000.
Children's Safety
New Mexico Voices for Children
supports these policies:
- Require children and youth to wear helmets
when riding bicycles, skateboards, skates and ATVs.
- Require gun
manufacturers to put safety locks on all firearms. While no one thinks twice about
buckling children into car safety seats, we fail our children by not requiring
this simple, but effective, safety measure.
- Allow families to sue
for damages when a child is injured or killed with a gun and the manufacturer
is found to be negligent. Gun makers and sellers currently have legal immunity
- even when they are found to be negligent. No other industry is provided this
kind of legal immunity, why should the gun industry?
New Mexico Voices for
Children opposes these policies:
- Expanding the scope of law and allow
more people to carry concealed weapons in more places.
- Youth curfew
laws. While curfew laws are purported to be for the safety of children, studies
indicate that children are most in harm's way in the after-school hours, not from
midnight to 5am. Curfew laws do not protect children. Curfew laws perpetuate negative
images of young people as troublemakers.
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