Kids’ Health Is Not a Partisan Issue

By Amrita Stark, MD

Do you believe health care is a human right?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child declares: Children have the right to the best health care possible, clean water to drink, healthy food, and a clean and safe environment to live in. To provide this basic human right to the children of our country, we depend on Medicaid insurance. And right now, Medicaid is in danger.

I write to ask you to act now to protect Medicaid; call your legislators as soon as possible.

I am a primary pediatrician and partner at Child and Adolescent Clinic, which was created by Drs. Phyllis and Travis Cavens in 1978. From a truly mom-and-pop affair, we have grown to two pediatric offices with 12 clinicians caring for thousands of families in Southwest Washington.

Since our clinic’s inception, we have been committed to compassionate, evidence-based care for all children. Children of all races and ethnicities. Children with disabilities. Children of all gender identities and sexual orientations. Children who speak all languages. Children of all religions. Children with or without documented immigration status. And children with virtually all types of insurance.

The majority of families we serve have Medicaid insurance; roughly 80%. In fact, 38% of children in Washington have Medicaid insurance. Proposed federal budget cuts will affect millions of families in Washington and the majority of families we serve. If these cuts are sustained, there will be concrete effects on the health of children and their families that will, in turn, affect us all. Families already struggle to get access to quality care, especially preventive care. Funding deficits will shrink the availability and timeliness of medical services.

Unhealthy kids grow into unhealthy adults. Unhealthy kids miss school and don’t sleep well. Their parents miss work. Unhealthy kids have worse economic prospects as they grow up. They are more likely to struggle with addiction and mental health problems.

This is a moment when we need all hands on deck. Together. Doctors and nurses. Patients and families. Speak up for all children and their families and for the work we do at Child and Adolescent Clinic. United, we must save and enhance Medicaid to strengthen the health of our state and our country.

The health of your children, of your neighbor’s children, of all children is not a partisan issue. The health of our country’s children predicts our future.

Amrita Stark, MD, is a pediatrician at the Child and Adolescent Clinic in Vancouver.

*Note: A version of this article ran in The Columbian on March 13, 2025.