The U.S. Senate allowed the Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program to expire, eliminating the nation’s sole federal program in support of training pediatricians and pediatric specialists at children’s hospitals. In September, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to reauthorize the program. The nation’s freestanding teaching children’s hospitals train 40 percent of all pediatricians and 43 percent of pediatric specialists — physicians that are already in short supply. There are also threats of cutting medicaid, 1/3 of all U.S. children are on Medicaid, including my own. Without Medicaid these children would have no access to healthcare.

There are easy ways for you to get involved:

1. Learn more at the Speak Now Twitter Party Wednesday, November 16th 2:00-3:00pm EST follow #dontcutkids and @speaknowforkids.
2. Send a Twitter DM to the members of Congress. you can find their Twitter handles here.
3. Use this form to quickly and easily send an email to all of your congressional representatives.
4. Print this poster have your child color it and then mail it to your member of congress.
5. Post this on Twiiter and Facebook Speak Now for Kids! Make your voice heard & send a message to lawmakers today! http”//www.speaknowforkids.org

The post Speak Now for Kids appeared first on The Mom Maven.

As a mom, my children’s healthcare is important to me. Praise God that my children have been healthy and haven’t needed a lot of medical care beyond their well child visits. I know that is not the case for all families. I also know how hard it is to afford medical insurance. My husband and I have not had health insurance for the past 15 years, we are both self-employed and though we have tried, we have never found a plan that would fit our budget given our priority for the best car insurance overall. Our children have been covered for the last 12 years by a CHIP plan through the state of Florida. It is very affordable though the care is greatly lacking. Recently, the state changed our insurance provider and none of the caregivers we have seen in the past will participate in this program. That has left us with no participating hospital or walk-in clinic in our county and the only pediatrician that participates is the one at the Medicaid clinic. I am thankful they have some coverage but the quality has continued to decrease year-after-year.

Speak Now for Kids is a grassroots effort to make sure that children are represented in Washington, D.C. as healthcare reform discussions are undertaken by our government. “Speak Now for Kids in Health Reform urges parents, family members, health care providers and other advocates to tell Congress why children matter in health reform – through stories, photos and videos. Be a champion for children and Speak Now.”

What can you do to help?

Visit Speak Now for Kids and learn the facts about children’s healthcare in America.

Speak Using the form on the Speak Now for Kids website, you can let congress know that you care about children’s healthcare. You can also upload videos and pictures to share your message.

Share follow Speak Now for Kids on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Blog about what you have learned about this worthy cause and e-mail your friends and family and ask them to also get involved.

Party Join us Wednesday night 5/6/09 from 9-10pm EDT for a Twitter Party to share the message of Speak Now for Kids. Use hashtag #speaknowforkids and make sure you follow @speaknowforkids and our host @resourceful mom. I’ll be there so please follow me too, I’m @MomMaven.

Get involved in this grassroots effort and help us take care of the kids.

The post Speak Up-Speak Now for Kids appeared first on The Mom Maven.