Tavis Smiley . Special Feature . Road to Health . Guest . Wendy Lazarus

Wendy Lazarus

Co-founder, The Children's Partnership

The majority of uninsured children are children of color. But what comes as a surprise to a lot of people: 3/4 of them have parents who work.

Q: If America really loved kids, wouldn't we provide health insurance for all children?

Well, I think we're just not paying attention. I think what we've seen from our decades of work is, actually, the American public wants to do right by kids, and when given the opportunity and given a set of ideas, they'll get behind it. But in terms of health care, we do have our work cut out for us.

Q: Why are you optimistic that you can get health care coverage for uninsured children right now?

It's a good question because it's counterintuitive to think in this climate we could do that. Health is on the minds of everybody these days, you know? The rising costs of health care, the growing numbers of uninsured.

Q: Are kids of color disproportionately lacking health insurance coverage?

Nationally and in California, the majority of uninsured children are children of color, but what comes as a surprise to a lot of people, 3/4 of them have parents who work. So these are children of working parents.

Co-founder and co-director of The Children's Partnership, Wendy Lazarus advocates for children's issues. She's served as an advisor and consultant to many organizations and foundations.

Related Episode

April 28th, 2005

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Recommended Web Sites

KidsHealth provides health information about children from before birth through adolescence.

This Pocket Guide for Good Health for Children was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Children's Partnership works to ensure that all children have the opportunities to grow up healthy and lead productive lives.

Published: September 15, 2005