"The most vulnerable"

The following is a column by Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson:

It's not acceptable - the United States Census Bureau just released statistics that showed that the United States ranks 42nd in life expectancy. 

That's right, the most powerful country in the world, with the most advanced medicine, ranks 42nd down from 11th two decades ago.   Most of us know that the United States has been behind Western European countries for some time, but now we're behind Jordan, Singapore, and Japan.

It's not acceptable - we pay more, per person, for medical care than any country in the world.  We have vast resources and the best medical research money can buy.  Yet we are 42nd in life expectancy.

It's not acceptable. How can this be the case?  It's not complicated.  The U.S. has a have and have not system of health care in this country.  Fifty million in this great country have no health insurance.  And so, massive disparities exist.  The average life expectancy is 77.9, but if you are a black male, it is 69.2.  And so, we spend more than any other country and we get less.

It's not acceptable - the U.S. has the 2nd worst infant mortality rate in the developed world.  The most vulnerable are dying because of our convoluted system of care.  The average infant mortality rate in the U.S. is five deaths per 1,000 births. American babies are three times more likely to die in their first month as children born in Japan. Newborn mortality is 2.5 times higher in the United States than in Finland, Iceland or Norway.  For African American children the mortality rate is nearly double that of the United States as a whole, with 9.3 deaths per 1,000 births.

It's not acceptable.

The good news is we can fix part of this in Kansas.  It's not complicated.  For the last two years the Governor has proposed that we provide health insurance for every child that is born, until they are five years old.  The cost is modest - we can afford to do this; it's only $3.5 million in a budget of over $14 billion.

The legislature has refused to adopt this common sense solution.  All sorts of excuses exist.  The most painful, but persistent and truthful one, is that some "leaders" don't want the Governor to get credit for solving this problem.

It's not acceptable - one state can't solve the inefficiencies and inequities of our current health care system.  But we can provide coverage to the most vulnerable and give every newborn in Kansas a head start. 

It's the only acceptable action to take.

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