Pediatricians at Packard Children's 'Stand Up for Children' in Response to Probable SCHIP Bill Veto.

Call to Action Spreads to Hospitals Nationwide

STANFORD, Calif. -- "We're just so very angry. It is ridiculous that access to children's health care is in jeopardy like this," said Lisa Chamberlain, MD, a pediatrician at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. "Something has to be done."

Chamberlain was referring to President George Bush's vow to veto the bill passed by both the House and the Senate this week to reauthorize and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

SCHIP is a federal program implemented in 1997 to cover uninsured children who don't qualify for Medicaid. The 10-year program will expire Sept. 30 unless it is reauthorized.

Pediatric residents at Packard Children's are determined not to let the reauthorization bill go down quietly. On Oct. 2 at 12:30 p.m., they'll gather at the Stanford School of Medicine to show their support for the legislation and to protest the expected veto. They'll be wearing blue ribbons and sharing stories about the kids under their care who stand to lose the only health insurance coverage many of them have ever had.

They won't be alone. Although the idea started small last week during a daily meeting of pediatric residents at Packard Children's, residents at more than 17 institutions have now signed on to conduct their own, simultaneous "Stand Up for Children" events. Committed participants include programs from coast to coast and those in between: from Florida to Southern California, Boston to Phoenix. New programs are being added hourly; call the above numbers for updated information.

"This idea has been like spark to tinder," said Chamberlain. "We're tapping in to a lot of frustration, and plans for events are taking off like wildfire." Chamberlain is also an assistant professor of pediatrics at Stanford's School of Medicine.

The residents hope that mobilizing medical professionals will generate enough votes in the House to override the threatened veto. Although the bill passed the Senate on Sept. 27 with a veto-proof majority of 67 votes, the Sept. 25 vote in the House garnered only 265 of the 289 votes needed to override a presidential veto.

About 6.6 million children per year rely on SCHIP coverage for their basic medical needs; the new bill would renew the program for five years and extend coverage to an additional 4 million children. President Bush has said the $60 billion bill is too expensive and goes too far toward federalizing health care.

The Oct. 2 event reflects how health care for kids strikes a nerve with the young doctors on the front lines. Although individual pediatric residents have been writing letters and calling their legislators, encouraging them to first vote for and then to overturn a presidential veto of the SCHIP reauthorization bill, they recently decided the issue was so important that they should mount a more visible, public effort.

"I encounter families who are struggling with health insurance issues every day," said Packard Children's pediatric resident Arti Desai, MD. "This bill is for the working poor, for those who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private coverage. It seems ridiculous that we are punishing them."

"This is such a gigantic step backward," agreed Packard pediatric resident John Peoples, MD. "It's hard to believe it's actually happening, and with relatively little fanfare. We need to get people outside of the health-care industry to understand what's going on and to say, 'Whoa, this is outrageous.'"

"These are the future pediatricians of America mobilizing to protect the future of their country: children who need regular, basic health care," said Chamberlain. "It's inconceivable that the children we care for every day who rely on this program could now be uninsured."

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions -- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. For more information, please visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of Communication & Public Affairs at http://mednews.stanford.edu.

Ranked as one of the nation's top 10 pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford is a 264-bed hospital devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers. Providing pediatric and obstetric medical and surgical services and associated with the Stanford University School of Medicine, Packard Children's offers patients locally, regionally and nationally the full range of health care programs and services -- from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious illness and injury. For more information, visit http://www.lpch.org.

News advisory: A rally for the children's SCHIP health insurance bill will take place on Oct. 2 at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time on the Dean's Lawn at the Stanford University School of Medicine.