AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE is necessary for children and adults, and untreated illness costs money and lives. We should start with ensuring access to care for expectant moms to improve their health. It continues with making certain Kansas’ littlest residents and their caregivers can see the doctor when needed and have nutritious food to eat.
IMPROVING OUTCOMES THROUGH GENERATIONS. Health is essential to communities’ well-being, and early access to health care improves health outcomes. While most Kansas children are healthy, they need regular, dependable care to stay that way. Their parents and families need that same ability to visit the doctor, because uninsured and sick caregivers won’t be able to give children the nurturing attention they need. But health is about more than an office visit. It’s also about healthy food and training programs for new parents. Working in concert, these programs can uplift Kansans for decades to come.
FAST FACTS:
- Medicaid, or KanCare, is a federal-state partnership that provides insurance to kids and families with lower incomes. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides health insurance to children who don’t qualify for those programs.
- Unfortunately, since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Kansas is one of the few states that haven’t expanded their Medicaid programs to include all the adults who should be eligible under the federal law.
- Food insecurity is when kids and their families don’t always have enough to eat. Government-sponsored programs that help include SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), also known as food stamps; school meals; and other efforts to serve meals around the year or during the summer.
- Kansas has added barriers to accessing food assistance. Families have to undergo burdensome work reporting requirements, child support enforcement rules, and background checks.
- Home visiting programs support parents with visits from professionals equipped with strategies and tactics. Parents gain skills and competencies essential to supporting and improving their kids’ health and development.
FAMILIES NEED SUPPORT during their child’s first year of life and beyond. Healthy parents raise healthy children. If officials increase health care access, they will improve maternal physical and mental health, which will cultivate child development. The future of our state depends on the health of our youngest residents and their parents.
ASK THE CANDIDATE
- Both before and after birth, mothers and babies need high-quality health care and other types of supports to ensure a healthy start. How will you ensure that these services and supports are connected and easy to access, regardless of the mother’s race / ethnicity or ZIP code?
- Research indicates that when parents are insured and healthy, their children are more likely to access primary care. How will you ensure that children not only have health coverage but access care?
- What are your thoughts on expanding Medicaid?
- What is your opinion on the use of Medicaid funding to provide parenting and home visiting programs for new parents?
- Do you have ideas for how more Kansans could access programs such as SNAP? Are there any laws or regulations you would change regarding accessing SNAP?
KANSAS ACTION FOR CHILDREN
VOTER GUIDE 2020
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