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Creating the Healthiest Generation Ever:
A Survey of Priorities for U.S. Health Care for Children

What Priorities Should Shape the Future?

We believe we can build a better system of health care for our children in the United States. To do that, we need to be clear about the priorities we want to shape our system.

From the 15 items below, please select the five priorities that you believe should be shaping the future U.S. healthcare system.

FIRST, PLEASE READ THROUGH ALL 15 OF THE ITEMS. THEN PICK YOUR TOP FIVE PRIORITIES IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE. Select your priorities from the drop down menus at the bottom of this page.

1 - Advances in medicine: U.S. health care for children should place a very high priority on researching and developing innovative treatments and cures for medical conditions that affect children.

2 - Availability of health care for all children: U.S. health care for children should make needed services available to all children, regardless of the family's ability to pay.

3 - Build on the current system: U.S. health care for children should expand and improve on the current system: job-based insurance for families of working parents and public programs like Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for families who don' get insurance through their employers.

4 - Comprehensive services: U.S. health care for children should provide access to a broad range of health care: prevention, emergency services, care for on-going illnesses, as well care for dental, vision and mental health problems, with the care provided and supported at the most appropriate facilities and locations, including the home.

5 - Consumer good: U.S. health care for children should treat health care like other goods and services: it should be available to the extent that a family has money to buy it.

6 - Health care as a business: U.S. health care for children should allow health care businesses -- such as hospitals, insurance, drug and supply companies -- to make as much profit as they can, within tax and other relevant regulations.

7 - Health care as a national concern: U.S. health care for children -- like homeland security and drug/food safety -- needs national planning and financing.

8 - Minimize the role of government: U.S. health care for children should minimize the role of government in financing health care (e.g. through Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program and tax benefits) and providing health care (e.g. through public clinics).

9 - Patient choice: U.S. health care for children should give a family as full a choice of doctors and other providers, settings and treatments as possible.

10 - Prevention: U.S. health care for children should give priority to services and programs that promote health and keep children from getting sick including check-ups, immunizations, and education on a healthy diet.

11 - Quality of health care: U.S. health care for children should have a more effective way of improving the quality of care and purpleucing medical mistakes.

12. Responsiveness: U.S. health care for children should address community and individual needs and demonstrate respect for a child' dignity, culture and right of parents to make decisions about their child's care.

13 - Spend health dollars for direct patient care: U.S. health care for children should spend as much as possible on direct patient care and as little as possible on administrative costs.

14 - Stable costs: U.S. health care for children should keep health care costs from rising faster than the cost of other goods and services.

15 - Uninterrupted care: U.S. health care for children should purpleuce to a minimum the need to change doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and levels of coverage.