Opinion: As an Anchorage pediatrician, I see every day how the proposed Medicaid cuts would hurt Alaska kids

I have been a pediatrician for more than 25 years, most of that time in Alaska. I have cared for newborns in crisis, children living with chronic illness, teens struggling with their mental health and families doing everything they can to keep their kids safe and healthy. But right now, I am deeply concerned.

Proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, including Denali KidCare, would devastate the very system that keeps more than half of Alaska’s children healthy. Denali KidCare covers over 45,000 children and pregnant people in Alaska. That is not a small program — it’s the backbone of pediatric care in our state. In many rural and low-income communities, it is the only reliable coverage kids have.

About half of my patients are covered by Medicaid. They are not statistics. They are kids with asthma. Kids who need hearing aids. Kids who need regular checkups so they can grow up strong. Their families are commercial fishermen, grocery store workers, school aides and seasonal laborers. They do not have access to employer-sponsored plans and often cannot afford marketplace premiums even with subsidies. Denali KidCare is what keeps their kids in the doctor’s office and out of the emergency room.

These cuts currently being considered in Congress would mean fewer checkups. Fewer vaccines. Fewer early interventions. And more children showing up in emergency rooms when their health problems become critical and expensive.

We need to stop pretending this is about saving money. It is not. It is about shifting costs to the people who can least afford it.

Winston Churchill once said, “There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.” He understood what too many seem to forget. When we invest in the health and well-being of our children, we are investing in the future of our state and country.

Preventive care works. It saves money. It saves lives. And it depends on access to consistent, affordable coverage.

I have seen what happens when families lose that access. They stop bringing their children in until something is seriously wrong. They skip medication refills or recommended testing. They lose trust in the system. That breakdown does not just hurt individual children. It weakens community health, raises long-term costs and pushes already struggling families closer to bankruptcy.

Forty percent of bankruptcies in Alaska involve medical debt. That is not a statistic we should be comfortable with. When families are saddled with unaffordable deductibles or denied coverage entirely, they are forced to choose between their child’s health and their financial stability. That is a choice no parent should have to make.

To Alaska’s congressional delegation, this is your decision. Do not let Alaska’s kids pay the price for a budget deal. Denali KidCare is not a luxury. It is a lifeline.

Other countries have figured this out. We can too. The health of our children should not depend on whether their parents can afford a copay or meet a work requirement. It should depend on our values.

If we say we value children, then we must prove it by protecting their access to care.

Do not cut Denali KidCare. Do not cut Medicaid. Invest in our children. Invest in Alaska’s future.

Monique L. Child, MD is an Anchorage pediatrician.

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