Many American adolescents are suffering from unmet physical, reproductive, and behavioral health needs due to failings of our nation’s heath system. This report, authored by Harriette Fox and Margaret McManus of the National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health, finds that many adolescents are uninsured and have limited options for purchasing insurance that meets their unique health needs.
Entitled Health Reform & Adolescents, the report outlines ways in which national health reform provides an important opportunity to address these challenges.
As Congress works to achieve health reform for all Americans, the report urges its Members to consider the following recommendations to improve the health of adolescents:
- Ensure that all adolescents up to age 21 have affordable, appropriate, and high quality health insurance coverage.
- Ensure that health insurance coverage for adolescents is structured to cover the services adolescents require to improve their health status, that coverage places greater emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention, and that payment policies under Medicaid and CHIP are consistent with this objective.
- Provide federal support for comprehensive adolescent health centers, including, but not limited to, school-based clinics, and structure payment incentives to support the development of these models.
- Support major reforms in pediatric training in the care of adolescents and expand the child and adolescent mental health workforce.