Child Health Care Providers, Parents Give Their Own Score To Senate's Proposed Health Care Bill
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With the Senate health care bill on the fast track, local child health care providers and their patients' parents talked about the impact it would have on them. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia would be among the hardest hit by the bill.
Nearly half of CHOP patients rely on Medicaid for health coverage. Policy director Ahaviah Glaser estimates that the hospital would lose at least $43 million under the Senate's proposal.
"The cuts are extraordinary," Glaser said. "Really, never before seen anything at this level, even with the Deficit Reduction Act and other proposals in the past."
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Glaser is most concerned about fundamental changes to Medicaid that would simply eliminate coverage for millions of children, children like the Burke twins, both with serious health issues that their mom, Kimberly, says exceed not only their employers' insurance but both parents' combined income.
"Medicaid provides us the ability to stay in our home, feed our family," she said, "we could not meet our children's needs without Medicaid."
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, one of the bill's authors, says the cuts are eight years away and are necessary to control spending growth.
