Health insurance for all kids a top priority
December is the time when people across our state and country celebrate the joy and goodwill found in many faiths.
Much of this joy centers around our children. Earlier this month, my wife Andrea and I joined Tennessee students to kick off the holiday season at the State Capitol. Children came to sing Christmas carols with their school choirs, enjoy the trees we?d decorated and have hot cider and cookies with their parents.
But even in the midst of this cheer, I couldn?t help but be mindful that we had a ?10th child? among us.
In Tennessee, 150,000 children are living without health insurance. That means that one in every 10 children I meet is living without access to care that could save or change his or her life. Every time I visit a school, I wonder who that 10th child might be.
It?s time to do something for these kids. That?s why, with bipartisan support from the General Assembly, we?ve created CoverKids, a comprehensive health insurance plan for uninsured children.
Our goal is to help Tennessee?s children access medical care as easily as they can check out a library book. Most importantly, CoverKids will allow us to go beyond simply treating children?s illnesses and do something about preventing disease in the first place.
By providing quality, regular, preventative care, we?re going to break the barriers standing between the 10th child and health care. We?re also going to break the barriers standing between kids and lifelong health.
One strong example of how we can move ahead in preventative care is diabetes, which is linked to the poor eating and lifestyle habits that are prevalent among so many of our young people. In fact, adult onset diabetes has become so common among kids that medical experts have had to give it a new name ? Type II Diabetes.
If a child today is diagnosed as a pre-teen with Type II diabetes, they?ll have vision problems in their 20s ? they?ll have heart disease in their 30s ? they?ll be on kidney dialysis in their 40s ? and they might not see 50.
To enhance our preventative efforts, we?re putting $22 million into programs to help Tennesseans take responsibility for their own health.
This money will fund school and community-based nutrition, counseling, and physical education programs in communities across our state. We?re going to use every channel we can ? even cellphone text messaging and e-mail ? to convince our families, especially our kids, to go from video games and burgers to vegetables and backyard ball.
Additionally, to help us get this message across, former Tennessee Titan Eddie George has signed on as spokesperson for GetFitTN, our state?s pubic awareness campaign designed to promote lifelong health. I?m confident that Tennesseans young and old will respect Eddie?s message, and I?m proud to have him on our team.
CoverKids is a work in progress, and we?ll need to work together to build it and ensure its success. Acting now, we can make sure our children grow healthy, strong and safe ? and ready to seize all the opportunities that await them.
I?m looking forward to continuing the work of building CoverKids in the New Year, and I want and need your support. Until then, please accept my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and happy holidays ? I hope you celebrate this season with warmth in your hearts and homes.
For more information on CoverKids, call 1-866-COVERTN, or visit www.CoverTN.gov.
Gov. Phil Bredesen can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].