Children’s Hospital Boston has been busy attending State House hearings and speaking up for children on a number of important policy issues. Below please find a description of each hearing as well as testimony.
Ashley Waddell, MS, RN, CNOR, Staff Nurse Level III/ Staff Development Specialist, testified before the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing in opposition to legislation that would require mandated nurse staffing ratios and in support of legislation that promotes professional development for nurses and individualized nurse staffing plans. Click here to read the full testimony
Melissa Shannon, Director of State Government Relations, testified before the Joint Commitee on Children and Families in support of legislation to simplify the administrative process for re-enrolling families in MassHealth. Click here to read the full testimony
Al Patterson, PharmD, Director of Pharmacy, appeared before the Joint Committee on Public Health to highlight the dangers of drug shortages for pediatric patients. Click here to read the full testimony
Susan Sommer, RN, NP-BC, Nurse Practitioner and the Clinical Director of the Children's Hospital Boston Community Asthma Initiative, submitted written testimony to the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change in support of enforcing the Clean Air Act. Click here to read the full testimony
Dr. James Mandell, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, submitted written testimony to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing supporting Governor Deval Patrick's payment reform legislation, but recommending that the following three principles be considered as part of the legislation in order to adequately protect access to care for children:
-
The measurement of return on investment needs to measured in the long term. The care provided to children – vaccinations for example – has enormous cost saving impact throughout those patients’ lives, but not usually in the first year or two.
-
Treating children is different than treating adults. Because of the rarity and the severity of childhood illness, acute pediatric care is, by necessity, highly specialized and regionalized.
-
Medicaid rate reform needs to be part of the solution. Approximately 1 in 5 Massachusetts residents and 1 in 3 Massachusetts children is insured by MassHealth. Our population can not be adequately served in the years ahead without making the Medicaid payment system sustainable.
Click here to read the full testimony Click here to read a summary of the testimony
Joshua Greenberg, Vice Presient for Government Relations, testified before the Joint Committee on Public Health in support of legislation that would create a child health policy council to advise the Governor, the General Court, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Division of Insurance on quality standards, prevention strategies, cost factors, and payment policies relative to pediatric care and children’s health. Click here to read the testimony.
Dr. Shari Nethersole, Medical Director for Community Health and a Physician in the Primary Care Clinic, submitted testimony to the Public Health Committee, in support of H. 1157, the "Healthy People, Healthy Economy," bill. This legislation is being promoted by the Boston Foundation to help combat childhood obesity by promoting physical activity in schools, providing tax credits for healthy food retailers in underserved areas and requiring health impact assessments for all capital projects. Click here to read the testimony
Lauren Rubenzahl of Children’s Center for Media and Child Health testified before the Education Committee in support of legislation that would require media literacy education be implemented in grades K thru 12. The goal of this legislation is to equip children with the tools to think critically about all that they are seeing and hearing, and to learn to put out healthy messages themselves. Click here to read the testimony
Shella Dennery, PhD, Director of the Children's Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships Program, testified before the Joint Committee on Education in support of legislation that establishes a framework for improving school-based mental health services statewide. The goal of this legislation is to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for all children and youth and a better integration of social and emotional supports. Click here to read the testimony
Dr. Grace Lee, Associate Medical Director of Infection Control, submitted written testimony to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing in support of legislation promoting childhood vaccine funding and an immunization registry. Click here to read the testimony
Drs. Sharon Levy and Miriam Schizer of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program submitted written testimony to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of legislation that bans the sale of stimulant-containing "bath salts" by classifying their active ingredients as class C substances. Click here to read the testimony
Dr. Sarah de Ferranti, Director of Children’s Preventive Cardiology Clinic, submitted written testimony to the Joint Committee on Public Health in support of legislation that prohibits the use of trans-fats, found mostly in foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, from food preparation in restaurants. In her testimony, Dr. de Ferranti stressed the dangerous link between trans-fats and cardiovascular diseases such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes that she seen in her patients. Click here to read the testimony
Dr. Mona Sharifi of the primary care clinic submitted testimony in support of S. 540 which would require all state health insurance programs to offer a tobacco cessation benefit, as MassHealth currently does. The MassHealth tobacco benefit has been remarkably effective in reducing smoking rates among MassHealth members and in reducing health care costs for those who took advantage of the benefit. Extending the benefit to other state-sponsored health plans will help reduce children’s exposure to smoke, which is associated with asthma, wheezing, SIDS and other health problems among children, as well as increasing the likelihood of growing up to be a smoker. Click here to read the testimony
If you have questions about any of these bills or require additional information, please feel free to contact Maria Fernandes, Government Relations Specialist, at maria.fernandes@childrens.harvard.edu or 617-919-3060.
