ITUP Conference Re-Cap: A Focus on Special Needs

On Feb. 10, I attended the Insure the Uninsured Project conference for the first time, and was extremely encouraged to see such a large and diverse group of key governmental players coming together to talk about health care.

Although I was attending the conference as an exhibitor, I had the opportunity to attend a session focused on insuring kids, which featured a panel of knowledgeable and distinguished speakers, led by Wendy Lazarus of the Children’s Partnership, a veteran in the realm of children’s issues:

• Toby Douglas, from the state Department of Health Care Services
• Dr. Richard Pan, a pediatrician at UC Davis and now candidate for state assembly
• Suzanne Shupe, executive director of the California Children’s Health Initiatives.

Interestingly, the session on insuring kids didn’t focus as much as I expected on the federal health care debate and its impact on kids, especially with reference to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but instead the speakers focused on California’s kids — and, in particular, children with special health care needs. The panel was quick to point out the importance of considering this population when discussing health care for kids. In particular, panelists said, kids with special needs face a system that needs reform.

If you serve kids in your work, or have an interest in making sure all kids in California are insured, I encourage you to listen to this panel’s discussion online at ITUP’s website. (Materials and audio will be posted soon at http://www.itup.org/this-years-conference.html.) I didn’t get a chance to attend any other sessions. But, if you also attended the conference and you’d like to leave a re-cap here, feel free!

Posted by Felicity Simmons

Tags: Child Health Initiatives, CSHCN