| Save
the Date! |
February
23, 2010
AAP
District II's
Annual
Legislative Day
*
Hear presentations from
legislative &
government leaders
*
Be a voice & advocate
for NYS's children &
pediatricians
*
Meet with your Assembly member
& Senator
Come
and Make a Difference!
|
| Free
Immunization Bookmarks
available in 4
colors
To
order batches of 100, email
George Dunkel at:
front
back
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Dear
Chapter Member, 
These are challenging and
exciting times in health care
and in pediatrics.
Please read on for details.
Henry Schaeffer, MD, FAAP
Chair, AAP District II, New
York State
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National
Health Care Reform:
Contact Your Legislators!
On the national level,
Congress is moving forward in
its work to deliver health
care reform legislation for
the President's signature by
the New Year. As the
deliberations continue, it is
imperative that your federal
representatives hear from you
about the importance of making
sure that any health care
reform legislation meets the
specific health care needs of
children.
We urge you to contact
your
federal representatives at
their
District office or their
Washington office!
You can e-mail, call, or
visit...or all three.
The AAP has articulated five
points that any health care
reform package must have to
meet the needs of children and
pediatricians. Please use
these bullets in any
communication you have with
your legislators' offices.
They are the backbone of
insuring that children's
health care needs will be met
in any health care reform
legislation that eventually
makes it to the President's
desk for signature.
- Every child must have
quality health insurance.
- Quality health insurance
should be a right,
regardless of income, for
every child, pregnant women,
their families, and
ultimately all individuals.
- All health insurance plans
should have a comprehensive
age appropriate benefits
package directed to the
special needs of the
pediatric population as
recommended by the American
Academy of Pediatrics.
- Every child should receive
care in a medical home with
a primary care pediatrician,
and have access to pediatric
medical subspecialists,
pediatric surgical
specialists, pediatric
mental and dental
professionals, and hospitals
with appropriate pediatric
expertise.
- All health plans should
have payment rates that
assure that children receive
all recommended and needed
services.
Further, we must be sure that
nothing in any Federal
legislation decreases benefits
that children in New York
State already have.
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NYS
Deficit Reduction Plan:
Cuts to Children's Services
On the state level, the
environment is daunting.
The Governor released his
Deficit Reduction Plan which
proposes to cut $3 billion
from the existing year's
budget. There is no argument
that New York has big budget
problems, but the proposed
cuts will significantly and
negatively impact the lives of
children across the state.
And, as always, they
will have the most negative
impacts on our most vulnerable
children and families; those
who most often need the kinds
of supports that public
programs offer.
Although there are no proposed
cuts to Children's Medicaid or
the Child Health program which
would impact eligibility,
benefits or enrollment, there
are cuts in both systems which
could have as yet unknown
impacts.
To help you understand the
kinds of cuts that are being
considered:
- mid-year school aid cuts
- significant cuts to
hospitals, clinics, &
school based health care
- large cuts to Medicaid
- large cuts to every public
health initiative from
childhood lead poisoning
prevention and treatment, to
obesity reduction, to
tobacco cessation
In addition there are cuts
proposed for:
- reproductive health care
- WIC
- child care
- child welfare
- foster care
- preventive services
- juvenile justice
- children's mental health
and disability services
The District will be
developing a position on the
cuts to children's services.
We hope that when the time
comes, you will join us in
advocating for necessary state
savings that cause the least
damage to the most vulnerable
children and families in our
state.
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SAVE
THE DATE!
AAP District II's Annual
Legislative Day: 2/23/10
 AAP
District II's Annual
Legislative Day is February
23rd in Albany. This year's event
will be in partnership with Reach
Out and Read (ROR) Programs across
the state. Many of you have
ROR programs in your offices and
clinics. It would be helpful
if you could reach out to the
programs in your facilities and
encourage them to join us in
Albany in February. Together
we can have an even stronger and
louder voice for children's health
and wellbeing. |
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Children's
Mental Health Services in
Primary Care
On a more positive note,
despite the financial
difficulties facing the state,
the Office of Mental Health
and the District continue to
move forward to develop a
Children's Mental Health
Primary Care Pilot.
This pilot will be designed to
provide training and support
in children's mental health
diagnosis, treatment and
medication management to
pediatricians. The program
goal is to enable
pediatricians to provide
services to children with
mental health issues in the
primary care setting.
The bidders conference took
place in mid-October.
More than ten entities
attended. Bidders responses
are due November 24th.
OMH hopes to make their final
decision in late December. The
OMH has required that whomever
they choose as a finalist must
work with the District to help
design and implement the
pilot. We will be
letting you know when a
decision is made.
To support our work on
Children's Mental Health, the
District has created an
internal Steering Committee
and District-wide Work Group,
and an external Children's
Mental Health Partnership.
These groups are
organized to help us move this
important part of our Agenda
forward.
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