GET MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about The All Healthy Children Act (HR 1688) and CDF's Healthy Child campaign, please visit http://www.childrensdefense.org/healthychild.

Deamonte was 12 when he died following complications from a toothache in Prince Georges County, Maryland.

The family’s Medicaid coverage had been cutoff, and his mother, Alyce, had been working through red tape to get it restored. Meanwhile, the child died, after first being treated in the hospital for sinusitis and sent home, according to the Children’s Defense Fund.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia) says that America’s children should not die or suffer because they lack access to health care. Earlier this month, he introduced the All Healthy Children Act (H.R. 1688) to give poor children and pregnant mothers the insurance so they can have access to much-needed health care.

“Nine million children under the age of 19 in the United States have no health insurance. Every 46 seconds, another child is born uninsured in America,” Scott said in a prepared statement. “The All Healthy Children Act is a logical, smart and achievable incremental next step to close the child coverage gap and guarantee all children access to the health coverage they need to survive, thrive and learn.”

Health care is emerging as a key issue in the upcoming 2008 presidential campaign with all candidates hinting at plans that includes coverage for all -- including poor children.

Sen. Barack Obama, one of the top Democratic contenders, says he will have everyone in the country insured by the end of his first term as president. Sen. Hillary Clinton, another top Democratic contender, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, both have aggressive plans for health care for the poor and underinsured.

"Health care coverage for all children is indeed the smart thing to do and Washington has fallen behind what the country needs," Scott said. "Children are our future and by far the most cost-effective investment. How we take care of our children speaks to our very values as a society. We should do it, we can do it, and with the help of my colleagues in Congress, all children will have health care coverage by next year."

Scott’s bill has been applauded by national leaders, including Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund.

"While Congress considers reauthorizing children's health programs this year, Congressman Scott has stepped forward to do something real for our children," Edelman said in a prepared statement. "It is a shame that 9 million children in America -- the richest nation in the world -- still do not have health care coverage. I applaud Congressman Scott for having the vision to make health and mental health care a reality for all children in America."

Scott’s bill would:

• Simplify and consolidate children’s health coverage under Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs into a single program. Children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia would be guaranteed medically necessary services.
• Expand eligibility to all children with family incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. 
• Guarantee coverage to children regardless of where they live.
• Eliminate barriers to enrollment such as lengthy applications for health care coverage.
   
  Increase provider rates to make sure that children have access to needed health care professionals.
• Provide coverage to pregnant women with incomes at or below 300% of the federal poverty level. Pregnant women would be eligible for all medically necessary health and mental health services until at least 60 days after the birth of the child.

In a column published Monday in the Clarion-Ledger, Rica Lewis-Payton, former director of Mississippi’s state Medicaid program, made a personal plea for support of medical care for all children.

“Children are the least expensive group to cover and it is a cost-effective investment,” she said. “The cost of prevention is much less than the cost for treating illness.”