Op-ed Protests Proposed Cuts in Washington Children’s Health Programs

Treuman Katz, Danette Glassy and Steve Wickmark, writing in a Seattle Post-Intelligencer op-ed, criticize Washington Gov. Gary Locke (D) and the state Legislature's proposals to cut children's health care programs in order to control the state budget "crisis," saying the reductions "will leave children without health care and will end up costing taxpayers much more in the long run." Katz, president and CEO of Seattle's Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Glassy, president of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Wickmark, executive director of the state's Children's Alliance, state that the proposals -- which include reducing enrollment in both the state's CHIP program and the state's Medicaid program, Basic Health Plan, "eliminating federal matching funds" for outreach programs, and "rolling back Medicaid eligibility" --"come at a time when Washington's health system is already falling short in terms of quality and access." Conceding that state lawmakers "fac[e] tough choices resulting from increasing health care inflation and other unrelated budget woes," the authors nonetheless state that cutting services for children will not affect the "roots of health care inflation," and in the end will increase state expenses for treating less healthy children. The authors conclude that "over the years ... Washington has demonstrated broad-based commitment to children's health. Now is the time to bolster that commitment, not abandon it" (Katz et al., Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6/6).