Keeping Change Alive

The election of a President who campaigned on a promise for change puts us in a unique position to enact legislation that provides comprehensive health and mental health coverage for all children. With many competing issues in the mix, we must let our voices be loudly heard by our legislators letting them know that we expect them to keep their campaign promises and not let this issue fall off their agenda or settle for a quick fix. We must keep shouting until they cover all children in 2009.

President-elect Obama has put up a new website and is soliciting policy recommendations that we would like carried out in the next four years. To ensure that change is carried out, we need to do 3 things:

1. Visit Obama's new transition website, change.gov.
2. Complete the form and tell Obama to:

a. Fulfill his campaign commitment to ensure that every child has health coverage.

b. Ensure that any legislation enacted meets the following criteria:

- Ensures every child and pregnant woman has access to affordable health coverage and health services.

- Guarantees all children and pregnant women comprehensive benefits, which must include all medically necessary services.

- Simplifies the application and enrollment process to make it easy for all children to get covered and stay covered.

- Resists the temptation to go for a quick fix that falls far short of covering all children.

3. Submit your vision of a country where all children in America have health coverage! (You can even include a photo or video with your submission!)

link: Children's Defense Fund
photo credit: Tom Ethington;
Center of Hope Freedom School