Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Let’s insure our kids instead of building a wall

Sonali Saluja, MD, MPH
Policy
January 22, 2019
Share
Tweet
Share

President Trump wants $5 billion for his border wall — right now — and another $7 billion (or maybe $13 billion) later on to finish the project. What else could we do with that kind of money? Here’s an idea: with $12 billion we could cover ALL 3.9 million American children who are uninsured today, and still have a couple billion left over. Put another way: for every mile of Trump’s wall, we could give health insurance to at least 6,600 kids next year.

Living without health insurance is often devastating for kids, and for their families. Uninsured children often have to skip checkups and life-saving vaccines, and they are more likely to delay or forgo care when they are sick. Uninsured kids miss more school days, and their families often face crushing medical bills. If children without insurance are hospitalized, they are 60 percent more likely to die than hospitalized children with insurance.

Instead of helping kids, the Trump administration is undermining the health of our children. Last year 276,000 children lost coverage, reversing a decade of progress. Furthermore, the President wanted to cut $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program, along with the food stamps and housing assistance that shield millions of kids from malnutrition and homelessness. Meanwhile, his ill-considered immigration policies pose an immediate threat to the thousands of infants and children seized from their parents, many of whom have yet to be reunited with their families.

The neglect of America’s children shows up in our sorry health statistics. Compared to children in similarly wealthy nations with national health insurance, children born in the U.S. are 76 percent more likely to die before their first birthday, and 55 percent more likely to die between the ages of one and 18. Infant mortality rates in the U.S. are worse than 27 other countries — including Belarus, Slovakia and Cuba. Despite these shameful figures, one in 10 kids in the state of Texas does not have health insurance.

Experts from across the political spectrum have debunked the border wall as a “wasteful,” “harmful” and “ineffective.” In contrast, providing health insurance to our children makes sense on a number of levels. One study showed that the country could save between 8.7 and 10.1 billion dollars a year by providing coverage to eligible uninsured children. Insuring our uninsured children essentially pays for itself. Additionally, the vast majority of Americans, liberal and conservative alike, believe all children should have health care coverage. And as a physician, I know that having insurance as a child reduces your chances of developing a life-long chronic disease. In fact, kids who have health insurance are more likely to succeed in school and become productive members of society.

Rather than bickering over an expensive and futile wall, Congress and the President should set aside their differences and prioritize the health of America’s children. The best way to put “America First” is to put our children first – it’s time we gave all kids in this country health insurance.

Sonali Saluja is an internal medicine physician. This article originally appeared in the Medical Care Blog.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

How this student took care of his severe depression in medical school

January 22, 2019 Kevin 0
…
Next

Getting old ain't for sissies

January 22, 2019 Kevin 3
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy, Washington Watch

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How this student took care of his severe depression in medical school
Next Post >
Getting old ain't for sissies

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • Let kids come to the table

    Casey Nagel, MD
  • 15 commandments for teaching your kids about racism

    Uchenna Umeh, MD
  • Why the health care industry must prioritize health equity

    George T. Mathew, MD, MBA
  • Why this physician teaches health policy in medical school

    Kenneth Lin, MD
  • Health care workers need policy changes, not just applause

    Yuemei (Amy) Zhang, MD
  • Health care is not a service commodity

    Peter Spence, MD, MBA

More in Policy

  • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

    Ilan Shapiro, MD
  • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ laws

    BJ Ferguson
  • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

    Carlin Lockwood
  • What Adam Smith would say about America’s for-profit health care

    M. Bennet Broner, PhD
  • The lab behind the lens: Equity begins with diagnosis

    Michael Misialek, MD
  • Conflicts of interest are eroding trust in U.S. health agencies

    Martha Rosenberg
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
    • How the 10th Apple Effect is stealing your joy in medicine

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

      Ilan Shapiro, MD | Policy
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • When the diagnosis is personal: What my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me about healing

      Pearl Jones, MD | Conditions
    • What led me from nurse practitioner to medical school

      Sarah White, APRN | Education
    • Why local cardiac CT scans could save your life

      Benjamin Cohen, MD | Conditions
    • Reassessing the impact of CDC’s opioid guidelines on chronic pain care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Key strategies for smooth EHR transitions in health care

      Sandra Johnson | Tech
    • How proposed NIH budget cuts could derail Alzheimer’s research

      Tamer Hage, Tejas Sekhar, and Swapna Vaja | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 16 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
    • Why flashy AI tools won’t fix health care without real infrastructure

      David Carmouche, MD | Tech
    • How the 10th Apple Effect is stealing your joy in medicine

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Why Medicaid cuts should alarm every doctor

      Ilan Shapiro, MD | Policy
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • When the diagnosis is personal: What my mother’s Alzheimer’s taught me about healing

      Pearl Jones, MD | Conditions
    • What led me from nurse practitioner to medical school

      Sarah White, APRN | Education
    • Why local cardiac CT scans could save your life

      Benjamin Cohen, MD | Conditions
    • Reassessing the impact of CDC’s opioid guidelines on chronic pain care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Key strategies for smooth EHR transitions in health care

      Sandra Johnson | Tech
    • How proposed NIH budget cuts could derail Alzheimer’s research

      Tamer Hage, Tejas Sekhar, and Swapna Vaja | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Let’s insure our kids instead of building a wall
16 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...