Protect Children's Access to Health Services
To succeed in school, students must be able to attend school. For children in lower-income families, persistent health issues can become an enormous obstacle to academic achievement. That is why school-based health centers (SBHCs) are so vital to so many.
More than 200,000 students across New York State receive health care through an SBHC. It can be the place where a vision problem is initially identified or the first line of urgent care that might just save a young person's life.
Unfortunately, many lower-income families' access to health services could be in jeopardy!
For a long time, SBHCs have fallen under the Medicaid program, which allows them to receive payments directly from the state. This decision has helped maximize access to the health services they offer to lower-income families. But now Governor Cuomo's administration is considering redesigning Medicaid and leaving SBHCs at risk.
The proposed change could dramatically alter how SBHCs function and diminish the health services they can offer. The state's 222 SBHCs are in danger, and so are the children who depend on them.
SBHCs keep young people healthy and ready to succeed in the classroom. We need to let our lawmakers in Albany know that SBHCs are critical to the futures of hundreds of thousands of New York students. Ask them to protect SBHCs by keeping them safely within Medicaid.
Dear New York State Lawmaker,
More than 220,000 students across New York State depend on student-based health care centers for a full range of services. I am asking you to protect those health services by preserving their future funding.
The children who depend on SBHCs for their health care very often come from lower-income neighborhoods, where high-quality care is either too expensive or just not accessible. Putting health care in the schools they attend is a convenient and effective way to keep young people health and in school.
I believe that health care is a right that no one should be denied. I am counting on you to preserve the important health services that youth, many from lower-income families, can find at SBHCs. I urge you to give them the best opportunity for success by keeping them healthy at school.
[Your comments here]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
