Maine Assembly on School-Based Health Care

Letter to the Editor: (Fosters Daily Democrat, December 9, 2009)
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091209/GJOPINION_01/712099979/-1/fosopinion

To the editor: The passage of health care reform in the House of Representatives was an important and exciting moment for all those dedicated to the idea that all Americans need and deserve access to high quality, affordable health care. Maine’s two representatives, Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, deserve a vote of thanks from all of us for being part of the majority that made this happen.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act is a large and complex piece of legislation, with many important provisions. One of them of particular interest to families and children concerns school-based health centers (SBHC’s). SBHC’s provide a vital link in delivering health care to kids who need it most. The health reform bill creates a new program that will support SBHC’s at many locations in Maine and around the country.

I am the coordinator for the Noble Health Center at Noble High School and a member of the Maine Assembly on School-Based Health Care. MSAD #60 has the only SBHC in York County. We are thrilled that the House saw the wisdom of incorporating this successful program into a national vision for health care. Now, we must get on with the equally important job of passing a Senate bill, that ensures access to high quality, affordable health care.

To make the important investments in our children that we know are needed, and will pay big dividends in the future, we must finish the work that has been so successfully begun. Please call Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and ask them to support health care reform that will meet the needs of all our children.

Cynthia Dolben, RNBS

South Berwick, Maine