Protecting children’s access to health care is more important than ever, Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) tells First Focus President Bruce Lesley in this short video.
“We don’t yet know if we’re going to see further spikes of COVID-19 in the fall,” she says, “but we do know that people need access to care right now and families are straining to afford health care as well as many other things.”
Rep. Wild co-sponsored the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program Pandemic Enhancement and Relief (CHIPPER) Act, which suspends a scheduled drop in the federal matching rate for CHIP in the coming fiscal year. She notes that the number of CHIP applicants in her state has “risen considerably” since the beginning of the pandemic.
Wild, who is among First Focus Campaign for Children’s 2019 Defenders of Children, has also supported access to good public education, continuing the Earned Income Tax Credit, and safeguarding and expanding the Affordable Care Act. She urges voters to ask a simple question when considering candidates in local, state and national elections: “Does this candidate support issues and policies that will benefit children?” she says. “Children are the future of this country.”